Why do you care about me so much?
by HighQueen
Summary: Narusasu Sasunaru oneshot. Yaoi. Set after and inspired by manga chapter 468. Read and review please! My take on the manga chapter. Complete but extended to include more oneshots with sasunaru goodness
1. Why do you care about me so much?

_Disclaimer – Don't own Naruto. Kishimoto does._

_A/N – This is a oneshot inspired by the latest manga chapter 486. _

_Warning: Manga 486 spoilers ahead. SasuNaru action too. Yaoi. You've been warned_

_Please R & R!!_

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"It's my job, no one else's!" Naruto declared passionately, blazing blue eyes locked with Sasuke's dark ones. Sasuke's eyes were like bottomless pits, as emotionless as ever. They bore into Naruto, cold and unyielding – one elegant eyebrow had raised by the minutest fraction; the only indication that Sasuke was actually listening to Naruto's fervent rant.

"I'll bear the burden of your hate…" Naruto continued, attempting to incite some sort of reaction from the other boy.

"…"

Sasuke remained as frigid as ever, and Naruto began to get desperate. The words poured out of his mouth, as he tried to make Sasuke understand exactly _how much _he meant to Naruto, just _how badly _Naruto _needed _him back.

"And we'll both die together!" he ended dramatically, meaning every shocking word he had just uttered. He heard an sharp intake of breath from Kakashi, a gasp from Sakura. Sasuke seemed to have gone rigid, eyes widening ever so slightly. Then-

"… **What?! What the fuck is wrong with you?!" **Sasuke suddenly shouted.

Sasuke's expression had suddenly contorted from its impassive mask, transmogrified into a look of utter fury, mingled with shock. His eyes were smoldering, with anger, obviously directed straight at Naruto for his proclamation.

'_I finally got through to him,' _Naruto thought triumphantly, his stomach fluttering ever so slightly at Sasuke's outburst and enraged glare. He thought, perhaps, that there was something else, barely noticeable but yet present… something else hidden within those dark, turbulent depths of Sasuke's onyx eyes. But Naruto knew he was probably just getting his hopes up, deluding himself that Sasuke cared for him in a way Naruto knew he didn't – couldn't.

"**Why do you care about me so much?!"**

Sasuke's voice was strangely thick. It was a subtle change, yet noticeable to Naruto; Sasuke was trembling, but not from anger – at least not entirely. There was a trace of grief, a trace of regret, shining from those dark eyes.

There was no need for words. They were both top-class ninjas. Naruto could read his thoughts – at that moment, he could understand what Sasuke was thinking, what he was trying to conceal behind his hatred, his uncaring attitude.

Sasuke was shocked. He was shocked at how much he meant to Naruto – but even more he was _worried. _And _upset. _At the prospect of Naruto _dying, _sacrificing himself for Sasuke.

The very prospect gave Naruto hope, and he met Sasuke's questioning glare, his lips lifting ever so slightly.

"Because I'm your friend," Naruto replied simply, the expression in his clear eyes now warm.

Sasuke's anger ebbed away, and he stared at Naruto looking rather bewildered. There was no longer even the slightest trace of antipathy in his expression – just a confused, regretful look; probably the closest to the old Sasuke that Naruto had seen in years.

Sasuke looked exhausted. With his scratched face, mussed up hair and astonished expression – it was as if he was Sasuke from Team Seven, staring at Naruto in shock after he'd performed some moronic misdeed to jeopardize their mission… it was as if he was back at the Valley of the End, gazing at Naruto from across the water, perched upon a log.

Naruto remembered the conversation they'd had back then…

'_Why would you go so far for me, Naruto?' _Sasuke had asked.

Naruto had replied with the usual 'bonds' excuse – it had been true, at the time.

Now, after all these years, Naruto realized it had been more than just mere 'brotherly bonds'.

Sasuke continued to stare at Naruto disbelievingly, eyes wide.

Naruto took a deep breath, debating internally whether or not to say the words that were on the tip of his tongue, the words that had haunted his mind and had been plaguing his heart for months, no _years_…

Sasuke had instructed Madara to _wait, _wait for Naruto to speak. He'd _wanted _to listen to what Naruto had to say, which meant that a part of him, even if it was a tiny part, actually still _cared _about Naruto, right?

'_And I may never get the chance to tell him this again,' _Naruto realized, strengthening his resolve. He would tell Sasuke, once and for all.

"Because I'm your friend," Naruto repeated.

"…"

Sasuke seemed to sense, somehow, that he was not yet finished, and remained silent, waiting for him to continue.

"And… I love you."

This time Sasuke looked staggered. He stared at Naruto incredulously, mouth slightly open. Even Zetsu seemed rather surprised, and Naruto didn't even _want _to know the expressions on Sakura's face and beneath Kakashi's mask.

Sasuke didn't seem disgusted though, which was a relief – maybe he'd interpreted it as brotherly love. Naruto decided not to push further, for the moment, and proceeded with to pour the rest of his heart out.

"… The only way you and I can communicate properly is with our fists!" Naruto was saying exuberantly, though in reality he was actually watching Sasuke closely, trying to gauge his reactions.

Sasuke seemed rather dazed, and was still looking Naruto, brows furrowed, as if trying to make sense of what he had said.

"We'll come to understand one another in the next world…" Naruto went on, trying to maintain his cheery façade. Somehow, being around Sasuke made him feel this inexorable rush of _love, compassion _towards the other boy – and yet at the same time, it made his heart feel like it was slowly being pierced by a poisoned kunai.

Sasuke hastily muttered something about not _wanting _to understand Naruto, scowling slightly as he spat out the words. Naruto could tell he was just saying it for the sake of altercation. Arguing with one another was something so deeply ingrained into Sasuke's and Naruto's mental psychology that it was inevitable.

Naruto ignored Sasuke's feeble retort, his face set.

"…The only person Sasuke's fighting is me!" he concluded.

Naruto took a step forwards, but before he could act, Madara had quickly warped Sasuke into another dimension, whisking him away.

The last thing Naruto had seen were his eyes, his dark, tumultuous, confused, _beautiful _eyes gazing at him – and every ounce of hatred, of _anger _in them had dissolved.

Naruto banged his fist on the ground in frustration, letting out an animalistic howl. The bastard, Madara, had taken Sasuke away, just when he was getting through to him!

But Naruto _would _find him again – and then he'd bring him back.

Believe it!

...

...

Two months later and Naruto and Sasuke were lying on the ground in a bloody, mangled mess. The area around them was destroyed completely, rocks smashed to smithereens, gaping holes puncturing the ground, trees burnt and lacerated.

Naruto struggled to push himself up, agonizing pains shooting through his chest; the wound Sasuke had dealt him was far too deep, far too wide for the Kyuubi to heal in such a limited time… Sasuke was in a similar state, lying limp on the ground, blood pooling from his chest, pouring down his eyes, from his mouth.

Naruto crawled towards Sasuke, ignoring the flares of pain that ignited as his weight crushed onto his already broken bones as he attempted to maneuver himself towards the figure that was Sasuke.

Somehow, he managed the journey, and collapsed on all fours, panting, his face hovering a few inches over Sasuke's pale one.

Sasuke's eyelids slowly fluttered open, the dark eyes gazing into Naruto's blue ones. Despite the fact that they were on the brink of death, Naruto's eyes seemed more alive, brighter than Sasuke had ever seen them.

Naruto leant downwards, ever so slightly, and Sasuke was reminded painfully of the aftermath of their battle at the Valley of the End. Their position had been the same, only reversed, with Sasuke kneeling down, and Naruto lying on the ground.

"S-S-Sasuke," Naruto managed to choke out, blood splattering from the wounds in his throat and his mouth as he attempted to speak.

Sasuke looked back at him, and Naruto was surprised to see his lips twist upwards by a millimeter. He wasn't smirking though – his eyes seemed calm, peaceful. After years of suffering and pain, Sasuke seemed oddly _content._

"I told you – we die – together…" Naruto shifted his position slightly, tilting his head even closer to Sasuke's. He could feel Sasuke's labored breaths tickling his hair.

"Dobe," Sasuke finally said, though there was a hint of affection in his voice. Naruto grinned, and despite the blood and grime coating his face, despite the obvious fact that he was _dying, _it was his largest grin ever, and it seemed to light everything up.

"You – shouldn't have – done this for me. I – don't – deserve a friend – like you."

Sasuke's eyes seemed bright, wet, and his voice wavered. Naruto felt a sudden swell of happiness, a sudden surge of adrenaline.

He grabbed Sasuke's forearms, roughly pulling him up and onto his lap. Sasuke made a slight noise of protest, but then did nothing, as the boys tumbled backwards, falling against a tree stump. Naruto rested himself contently against the rough wood, satisfied even as he felt the life slowly drain out of him, the Kyuubi howl and rage in protest. Sasuke's head was resting against his shoulders, and Naruto's arms were wrapped around Sasuke's torso.

Sasuke raised his head slightly, gazing at Naruto with the same pained expression in his eyes.

"Naruto – I'm – sorry – I – I shouldn't have – your dream of Hokage – "

Naruto smiled sunnily, winking. He was very comfortable with their current position, and Sasuke wasn't complaining… he had _really _wanted Hokage, but this wasn't such a bad way to go either… lying with your best friend in your arms, your best friend who _finally _apologized and realized his mistakes… your best friend who _finally _had that peaceful, content expression on his face (even if just for a moment), after all those years of you trying to make him laugh, crack a smile out of him with your ludicrous antics… your best friend who was staring at you with indescribably gorgeous, dark, _pleading _eyes…

"Hey, it's okay, Sasuke! No worries – it's all over now! We'll – talk about it – in the next world!"

Sasuke bit his lip, obviously about to say something then deciding against it.

Naruto, however was curious. He _had _to know how Sasuke really felt.

"If you want – to tell me – something… Sasuke – just say it."

Sasuke diverted his eyes from Naruto's unwavering gaze, and Naruto thought he saw a light pink tinge dusting his cheek.

"Sasuke…" he whined petulantly, and Sasuke smirked slightly, before reverting back to his serious, but yet calm face.

His eyes met Naruto's, and this time, Naruto's heart skipped a beat. He was pretty sure he knew the expression in those eyes – he'd had the very same one in his own when he'd watched Sasuke.

It was longing – when he was little, it was longing mingled with admiration for the boy – he'd always wanted to be as smart, as cool as Sasuke.

But as he grew older, it was a different kind of longing.

"Naruto," Sasuke whispered, "You could never really compare to Itachi in my eyes."

Naruto's heart plummeted, and he felt tears pricking in his eyes. Had he misunderstood everything? Sasuke couldn't be that heartless, could he?

Sasuke smiled now, a soft, genuine smile. He reached a trembling hand upwards to rest his rough fingers on Naruto's cheek.

"You're – not my brother. That's – a bond I – never – shared with you…"

Naruto's heartbeat quickened. He could sense his chakra ebbing away, his senses blurring, but the pain seemed to have faded away. All he could do was concentrate as much as possible on Sasuke's face, Sasuke's voice…

"What is it, Sasuke?!" Naruto cried. "What is it you feel for me then? Nothing?! Say it!"

Sasuke tilted his head upwards, ebony bangs brushing Naruto's own golden ones, breath ghosting against Naruto's lips.

"Naruto, I…"

"Say it," Naruto demanded in a harsh whisper, closing his eyes, relishing the feeling of Sasuke, his warmth, his scent, his breath, his skin…

Sasuke said the words, the words he'd left unsaid at Valley of the End all those years back.

"Naruto, I love you…"

If he'd wanted to say anything more, it was cut off, as rough lips attacked his own, the grip around him tightening as Naruto pulled Sasuke even closer.

Sasuke let Naruto kiss him, unresponsive as ever, before finally moving his lips against Naruto's own.

Their tongues tangled, teeth scraped against lips, and Sasuke's hands found themselves buried in Naruto's golden strands. The kiss, like all their battles and skirmishes, was violent, aggressive, but yet passionate, as their tongues and lips battled for dominion.

They then drew apart for breath, panting, staring into each other's eyes.

Naruto was shocked, though pleasantly so. He had never felt this _amazing, _this _loved, _in his life… he had always thought Sasuke was someone out of reach, far too good for him, and this was like a dream come true.

Sasuke, similarly, never thought Naruto would even _want _him back, even as a friend after all he'd done, the treason he'd committed. Yet, there they were, wrapped in each other's arms like long time lovers.

Unfortunately, it would end too soon…

Sasuke pulled Naruto back to him desperately, kissing him again. This time it was slower, gentler, as Sasuke's lips slid tenderly over Naruto's own.

"Sasuke," Naruto breathed, pulling away after some time, gasping.

"Naruto…" Sasuke murmured, his gaze soft.

"I love you, you bastard. More than anything in this world…"

"Hn… as do I…"

They kissed for the third time, though it was actually the fourth counting the incident at the academy – but unlike then, when the kiss was an unwanted, awkward slamming of mouth against mouth, this time it was full of passion, emotion that had been held back, controlled for far too long.

Sasuke and Naruto, the two teammates, friends and lovers, finally pulled apart, breathing their last breaths.

"Guess – I'll see you – later…" Sasuke whispered, eyelids fluttering shut. Naruto noticed his cheeks were wet.

Naruto closed his eyes as well, holding back the tears, as he faded away into unconsciousness for the last time.

"You better believe it, teme…" Naruto muttered, and when his last breath passed from his lips, they were curved upwards in a smile.

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_A/N – Sappy fluffy angst. Oh lord. Well, at least I refrained from putting smut!!_

_I really hope you liked it. SasuNaru is tied with SasuSaku and NejiTen as my fav, I LOVE them, and they honestly have the most history, chemistry and moments in the show (I mean they kiss, and Naruto straddles him at Valley of the End, and he holds him in his arms and what not…)_

_I always wanted to write NaruSasu but I never really ended up – this was inspired from the latest manga chapter, and it just popped into my head and I HAD to put it down. I loved Naruto's heartfelt speech, and how Sasuke obviously wanted to listen to him – I think Sasuke's melting, from that chapter… Sakura didn't do much, which disappointed me, but the NaruSasu was enough to make me happy! _

_Oh and one more thing – the dialogues used are from MangaStream. Somehow the translations in MangaStream are so much more eloquent than those on OneManga… I prefer those anyday!_

_I sincrely hope you enjoyed it. Please review. That would make me happy =)_

_Oh and on a rather unrelated note – Happy Birthday Tenten!! (Though I'm 2 days late)_

_xx_

_HighQueen_


	2. Over the years

_Disclaimer – Don't own Naruto._

_A/N – warning – some slightly explicit stuff later on... just a look at some sasunaru interactions over the years..._

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"No, get away from me!"

"I don't want to sit with you!"

"Eww, it's _Naruto_!"

A six-year old Naruto sighed despondently. It was his first day at the academy; one he had been looking forward to for years. He'd gotten up early that day, wolfed through his ramen, scrubbed himself clean and wore his favorite orange jumpsuit with his _awesome _goggles. He'd lived alone his whole life, and he'd always wanted to go to the academy so he could start learning how to become a ninja... and finally make some friends. But for some reason, every single kid at the academy seemed to harbor some mysterious aversion or pure antipathy towards him. The others, who didn't display outright hatred, avoided him anyways. Naruto couldn't think of what he'd done to deserve such treatment. He was a little loud and rambunctious, but he had never hurt any of them – he'd never even spoken to them. Yet they glared at him, their _parents _glared at him, as he walked through the academy doors.

Of course, this behavior wasn't new to Naruto. He'd been treated like that since the day he was born. But still, it hurt every time, like a kunai reopening old wounds in his heart.

Naruto pouted as he struggled to find a seat, trying to prevent the tears that threatened to leak from his blue eyes. Maybe they were just shy, he decided. He'd probably play with them in break, and get to know them all better, so then they'd sit with him.

Naruto trudged to the last bench, the only remaining unoccupied one. A lone boy sat there in silence, his head resting on his hands, his face obscured by black bangs. A gaggle of girls stood nearby, blushing and giggling.

"I want to sit with him," one whispered.

"No me! I'll sit with him!"

"Shut up you! Sasuke-kun is _mine_!"

The boy, Sasuke, shot them a frigid look, before turning back to his silent brooding. The girls flinched visibly, and one of them seemed on the verge of tears. Naruto approached him slowly, ignoring the murderous glances the now quiet girls were sending his way.

"Um – can I sit here?" he asked, feeling a bit foolish.

Sasuke turned to him, his dark eyes meeting Naruto's blue ones. He narrowed his eyes ever so slightly.

Naruto began to turn away, preparing himself for the inevitable rejection. It was idiotic to ask this boy, who was evidently so popular. Why would _he _want to sit with someone like Naruto, whom everyone hated?

To his surprise however, Sasuke nodded slightly, and scooted over a bit to make room for him, before lapsing into silence again, staring ahead.

Naruto felt a sudden feeling of happiness welling inside him, as he plopped himself down next to the dark-haired boy, smiling cheerfully.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki!" he introduced, holding out a hand. "What's yours?"

Sasuke stared at him for a moment, not taking the proffered hand, but replied, speaking politely.

"Sasuke Uchiha."

"Nice to meet ya, Sasuke. Guess what? One day I'm gonna be the best ninja ever!" Naruto chirped.

Sasuke's face seemed to darken at this comment, but he said nothing. Naruto however, took no notice and continued to babble incessantly until the teacher, a man with a ponytail and a scar on his nose entered and ordered everyone to be quiet.

...

...

Naruto sat alone on the swing that day, crying bitterly. Sasuke had disappeared with a flash when the bell rung, on his own somewhere. Naruto wished he could have gone with him, and wondered what Sasuke was doing.

Sasuke seemed to be the only person, other than a small, timid girl with white eyes, who didn't look at him or treat him as if he was some sort of a monster.

It wasn't fair. Naruto had done nothing wrong, and yet they excluded him from his games, ignored him, scorned him.

Naruto wiped his eyes on his orange sleeve, resolving to work extra hard at his ninjutsu. Then everyone would like him and admire him, as much as they did Sasuke!

...

...

The next day, Naruto sat with Sasuke again. He soon realized, that the dark-haired boy was a genius. He always finished his work early, while Naruto struggled to complete it. His grades were impeccable, and he mastered every kind of jutsu and ninja art they were taught. He could throw shuriken and kunai with amazing accuracy, his clones and henges were perfectly formed. Naruto couldn't help but envy him.

Naruto himself was disastrous. He could never form a proper shadow clone; his were always malformed and dead-looking. Most of the students snickered maliciously, as Naruto took his seat, eyes downcast.

Sasuke, however, wasn't laughing, to his relief. Sasuke never laughed at him, no matter what kind of idiotic thing he did. He didn't laugh at his pranks either, which left Naruto slightly disappointed, but at least he didn't make fun of him like the others. Still, Naruto didn't like being such a failure, especially in Sasuke's eyes.

...

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When he followed Sasuke in break one day, Naruto was shocked to see the boy alone, in a clearing, armed with dozens of shuriken and kunai. He'd jump up, flip in the air, and aim them, sometimes with his eyes closed, and different targets. Most of the time, all except one or two would hit. Naruto was awed by the display, though Sasuke seemed unhappy. He'd furrow his eyebrows, scowling slightly, and pick up all the scattered weapons, before doing the whole procedure again. And again. And again.

...

...

Naruto found himself at another clearing a few days later, holding some rusty shuriken and kunai he'd found lying around. They weren't shiny and sharp, like Sasuke's but they'd do.

He aimed at the targets, but missed by quite a margin. So he picked them up, and aimed again. And again. And again. Like he'd seen Sasuke do.

At the end of the day, Naruto was slumped, exhausted on the ground.

...

...

A few days later, to Naruto's surprise, Sasuke spoke to him.

"When you hold a shuriken, hold it by the tip, not the middle. It'll aim better. And when you throw it, try spinning it a bit."

Naruto's eyes widened. Had Sasuke known – had he _seen _him practicing?

"Th-thanks," Naruto stuttered, coloring slightly. Sasuke said no more, but turned to his work.

...

...

Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.

Naruto grinned. All three of his shuriken had nearly hit their mark. He wrenched them out of the target and tried again.

Unknown to him, a boy with dark eyes and black hair, who was watching, concealed behind the bushes, smiled, ever so slightly, before turning around and going for his own training.

...

...

Naruto stared at his report card, feeling dismal. He'd failed nearly everything, and was at the bottom of the class.

He turned to look at Sasuke, who was scanning his own report card, the tiniest ghost of a smile forming on his lips.

"How'd you do?" Naruto asked.

"I – not bad," Sasuke replied modestly.

Naruto peered to look over at it, and his mouth fell open in shock – Sasuke had perfect marks, and was top in everything!

Naruto suddenly felt even more idiotic. Why was Sasuke so good, and he so bad? He worked so hard, he slogged every day, and still Sasuke, who seemed to be a natural genius, would always defeat him! It wasn't _fair! _Naruto resolved to work even harder – he'd soon beat Sasuke, and then the other boy would admire him... and everyone would want to be his friend... and he'd become Hokage...

...

...

"Go away," Sasuke snarled, when Naruto attempted to sit next to him one day.

Naruto was shocked. Sasuke had never spoken to him that way before. They never really spoke much, but Sasuke spoke more to him than any others, and they sat together in class, so Naruto thought he could consider him a friend.

"What – what happened?" Naruto asked.

"Just leave me alone!" Sasuke said, before turning away. He seemed upset, and his dark eyes were sparkling. Naruto suddenly felt a wave of compassion towards the boy.

"Are you feeling okay, Sasuke?" he asked concerned, but the boy ignored him, and everyone else around him.

Naruto visibly flinched, stung. He was used to being ignored by everyone, but _not _Sasuke.

"Fine," he muttered, hiding the hurt in his face. "Be like that!"

...

...

"Hey Sakura-chan," Naruto called excitedly. The pink-haired girl looked at him disdainfully.

"Yeah, whatever Naruto," she said dismissively before turning back to ogle at Sasuke.

Naruto felt a tinge of jealousy – nothing had changed, over the years. It was still Sasuke, who everyone loved. Sasuke, the cool guy. Sasuke the awesome ninja, top of the class, number one rookie.

Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke...

'_What's so special about him anyways?' _Naruto thought as he strutted up to the dark-haired boy, his once friend, and leaned down to glare at him.

Sasuke raised an elegant eyebrow, but said nothing, meeting his eyes with a challenging glare of his own.

They stared each other down for a few seconds, before an accidental bump sent Naruto crashing forwards.

His mouth banged into something, something soft and slightly wet, and Naruto's eyes widened when he realized Sasuke's lips were pressed against his.

Both boys jumped back, spluttering in disgust.

"Ewwww! Gross!" Naruto shrieked, wiping his mouth, blushing furiously. "My mouth is rotting!"

"Naruto! You moron!" Sasuke yelled, pale cheeks tinged slightly pink. "I'm going to kill you!"

A group of girls watched the exchange in horror, before one of them spoke up, her voice menacing, and promising death.

"Narutoooo....."

Naruto turned, trembling, to face the wrath of the green-eyed monster that was Sakura.

...

...

"What?!" Naruto screeched, standing up in disbelief. "Why does an excellent ninja like me, have to be with a prick like Sasuke?!"

He didn't mind Sasuke as a person, he really didn't. In fact, he was initially slightly excited when he learnt he'd be with Sasuke. But then he remembered how Sasuke suddenly rebuked him all those years back, how Sasuke had overshadowed him from the start, and the prospect of being teamed with him became rather unappealing.

Iruka's scolding however, shut Naruto up immediately, and he sat down to seethe in silence. Sasuke turned to look at him, fixing him with a flat stare.

"Just don't get in my way. Dobe."

"TEME!" Naruto hollered back, not to be outdone.

And thus the start of a – wonderfully dysfunctional relationship.

...

...

Naruto felt extremely ridiculous, as he dangled upside down, a firm grip on his ankle the only thing that kept him from crashing to the ground and suffering what would definitely be a rather painful head injury.

Naruto turned his head upwards, staring at a pair of ebony eyes, narrowed slightly, and an utterly exasperated looking face.

"S-Sasuke?"

"You moron."

If Naruto didn't know better, he'd have thought Sasuke sounded _worried. _

...

...

"Why – why would you do this?! I never asked you to save me?!" Naruto cried in horror, as he took in Sasuke's battered form, punctured by multiple senbon.

"I – I don't know," Sasuke croaked. "My body – just moved on its own."

It was a lie, obviously, but there was no way Sasuke would let Naruto know that he actually _cared, _that too quite a lot, about the loudmouthed, blonde idiot.

Sasuke toppled backwards, and Naruto rushed to catch him in his arms, cradling Sasuke's body.

Naruto gazed at the pale face, black eyes, half obscured by dark strands that were staring into his own.

Sasuke's eyes fluttered shut, and his head rested on Naruto's chest as he fell into unconsciousness. Naruto felt a surge of panic, followed by an uncontrollable sadness, and _anger._

He pulled Sasuke's limp form closer to him, hugging it tightly, burying his face in Sasuke's neck, before looking up.

His wet blue eyes were now red, blazing with fury.

Haku was going _down. _

_Believe it._

...

...

"Naruto!" Sakura shrieked. "Sasuke-kun is alright!"

Naruto wanted to say something, thank Sasuke, but Sakura too busy coddling him, and there was a potential battle about to start. So he kept his mouth shut, watching, with a slight bit of envy, as Sakura jumped the poor boy just as he regained consciousness. Naruto couldn't stop the tears of relief that gathered in his eyes though, as he stared at Sasuke.

Sasuke raised a hand at him, waving slightly, and Naruto grinned, waving back.

_Thank god you're alright, Sasuke. I don't know what I'd do if you weren't. _

...

...

"Hey, Sasuke," Sakura said brightly. "When we get back, d'you want to go on a date with me?"

From the corner of his eye, Sasuke could see the look of immense disappointment that had crossed Naruto's face, the look of sadness and hurt that flickered across the blue eyes.

"No thanks," Sasuke said almost immediately. The expression on Naruto's face immediately cleared up.

"Hey what about me?" Naruto offered.

"What? Naruto! No way!"

Sasuke scowled at the tone of her voice, the way she said his name as if he were trash. His scowl deepened when he saw the pain flood back into Naruto's features for a fleeting second, before Naruto disguised it with another false grin.

...

...

"Hey, Sasuke, do you want to do something together?"

"No. If you have free time, you should be focusing on your training."

...

...

Sasuke wondered how Naruto could still _like _her after the way she treated him.

_Stupid dobe, _he thought. _Can't you see its hopeless. She'll never like you._

...

...

Even when Sakura started being kinder to Naruto, even when she began getting stronger as a kunoichi, Sasuke never returned her romantic gestures or date offers.

He began to care for her deeply, he had to admit. Sometimes he even felt overprotective of her. Sasuke admitted that he might _like _her ever so slightly – but it was a miniscule crush, one he soon got over. Maybe, one day, after he killed Itachi, and wanted a wife... maybe then...

But really, it wasn't worth it – not if it would leave Naruto destroyed and heartbroken. He'd never do anything that would result in Naruto being hurt, that would result in the bright smile being wiped off of the blonde's face.

That's why, Sasuke continued to dissuade Sakura's advances till the day he left Konoha.

...

...

Sasuke looked at Naruto, smirking.

"I want to fight you too, Naruto."

Naruto's heart leapt. Sasuke _wanting _to fight him was the best compliment he could get! Sasuke had acknowledged they were equals, and _wanted _to fight.

Naruto beamed at him, feeling immensely happy at this confession.

...

...

'_Itachi's after Naruto!' _Sasuke realized, with a flare of panic. He raced towards his destination, pumping chakra into his feet. He couldn't let his murderous, evil brother find _Naruto. _

...

...

"Chidori!"

"Rasengan!"

"STOP IT!"

Sakura ran towards the two boys as they charged at each other, chakra crackling and whirring in their hands.

"Damn it!" Sasuke and Naruto cursed simultaneously, unable to stop or change direction due to their momentum.

Luckily, Kakashi intervened, flinging them off into two water tanks instead.

...

...

Sasuke smirked. Water gushed out of the gaping hole his Chidori had created. Naruto's feeble attack had barely caused a trickle of water to leak out. His smirk died, however, when with a resounding crack, the reservoir Naruto hit shattered into pieces from the aftermath of the attack, water splashing everywhere.

'_How strong are you really, Naruto?' _Sasuke wondered with a mixture of shock, admiration, and jealousy. And maybe, in a tiny part of his heart, which had now been covered in darkness after the meeting with Itachi, he felt pride – or he would have, if he wasn't so hell bent on vengeance.

...

...

"I love you so much!" Sakura screamed, tears pouring down her face.

Sasuke's heart fluttered, ever so slightly. But she couldn't mean it. And even if she did... Naruto would be devastated if he took her with him as well...

...

...

"Sakura," Sasuke murmured. "Thank you."

He quickly pressed a pressure point on her neck, and she fell limp in his arms. Before he lay her down on the bench, Sasuke quickly brushed his lips against hers, just out of curiosity, just in case he never had the chance.

Strangely enough, it didn't even feel that amazing – a small tingle, but that was it.

...

...

What was even stranger, was the feeling that coursed through his body when Naruto straddled him, clutching his collar, their faces inches apart.

"Why do you insist on being alone?" Naruto demanded. "I _know _how you feel!"

Sasuke's stomach jumped at the contact, and the feeling it incited within him – it was similar to how he'd felt when he'd kissed Sakura, but so much stronger.

"What the hell would you know?" Sasuke spat, shoving Naruto off of him. "How would you know anything when you've been alone since the very start?! How would you know what it's like to lose all those close to you, huh!?"

'_Because you are everything that is close to me, Sasuke, and I'm about to lose you...'_

...

...

"When I was with you," Naruto admitted, "I wondered if that's how it felt like having a brother."

Sasuke didn't know whether to feel flattered or insulted. He thought of how he'd felt, when he was young, when he spent time with Itachi.

No, the feelings were certainly _not _the same. When he was with Naruto – it did _not _feel like having a brother at all.

...

...

"Why would you go so far for me, Naruto?" Sasuke asked sadly, staring across the water at the boy. Regret laced his voice, regret that it would have to end this way.

"For me, you're one of the first bonds I'd ever had," Naruto cried passionately. "I'll do anything to stop you! Even if it means I have to break every bone in your body!"

...

...

Two boys gazed at each other across the white space. Despite the fact that Naruto's eyes were those of a monster, his teeth pointed and bared, dark whiskers across his cheek and flaming, deadly chakra encapsulating his body... despite the fact that Sasuke had hideous wings, that his face had contorted grotesquely, that the whites of his eyes were stained black... despite all this, their expressions were identical, almost humane, the same inexplicable sadness mirrored in each other's eyes. If only it had ended differently... they could have become such good friends...

...

...

Sasuke choked, falling down, until his head was directly above Naruto's, their faces inches apart, raindrops running down Sasuke's face onto Naruto's.

Sasuke leaned forwards, ever so slightly. He wasn't going to kill him. He couldn't.

Even though it would be the easiest way to defeat Itachi, the man who he'd sworn vengeance on years ago, there was no way he'd steal _Naruto's _life, stain his hands with Naruto's blood, to achieve this goal.

Itachi was right. He was weak. Naruto, was his weakness.

Sasuke simply could _not _bring himself to kill his... 'best friend'...

"Naruto," Sasuke began softly. It's not like Naruto would hear him, since he was unconscious.

"I..." Sasuke jumped, slightly startled as he detected a flare of chakra in the vicinity. He didn't finish his sentence, but leaped away from Naruto's body, and rushed away from the Valley of the End, turning back to spare one last, regretful glance at his friend's face.

...

...

Naruto panted as he continued training relentlessly, the sun's rays beating down on his back.

It didn't matter if he was exhausted – he would still train.

That was the only way of bringing back Sasuke.

Sasuke.

Naruto redoubled his efforts at training, the dark haired boy's face always in his mind. Whirling chakra spun in his palm, singing his skin as he hurled his hand through a tree, cleanly searing away the bark.

For Sasuke...

...

...

"Chidori," Sasuke commanded, and a stream of lightening poured out from his hand with a chirping sound, a variation of his usual attack.

_Where is Naruto?_

He couldn't help but wonder, feeling slightly bitter.

_He said he'd come and drag me back, but it's been three years... he probably did give up on me..._

Sasuke tried to ignore the sinking feeling in his chest. It's not like he _would _go back, even if Naruto came, but he had expected Naruto to come running after him again, begging, pleading...

_Well I did nearly kill him last time, _Sasuke though acridly. _Can't blame him if he hates me... _

...

...

A few months later, when Sasuke was awaken by a pale boy, asking him about bonds, and _Naruto, _he couldn't control his emotions and exploded. Literally.

...

...

Sasuke stood above the crater, surveying the debris before. He could see a mop of familiar, bright pink hair.

"Sakura, huh," he said coolly.

If Sakura was here, that could only mean...

Naruto was back. Naruto came back to try and bring him to Konoha.

Sasuke, despite the feelings he'd tried to bury years ago, the bonds he'd sworn he'd broken, felt a small thrill of excitement at this prospect.

...

...

Sasuke pressed himself to Naruto, holding his gleaming Katana at the boy's neck. He could feel Naruto's warm breath against his neck. His own dark strands were brushing Naruto's cheek. Sasuke tilted his head, lips barely brushing the tip of Naruto's ear as he spoke, his words soft and menacing. He felt Naruto's breath hitch, his heartbeat quicken ever so slightly.

Sasuke smirked.

...

...

After the disastrous encounter, both boys lay in their separate beds, wondering, thinking about the same thing...

He'd gotten taller – his torso was more muscular... and as twisted and _wrong _as it may have sounded... the feeling of being pressed up against his chest was – _enjoyable..._

...

...

When Naruto jolted away one night, panting heavily, it wasn't from the usual fox-infested nightmare...

This time he'd dreamt about someone else.

Someone with impossibly dark eyes, gazing into his own, his smirking lips hot on Naruto's bare skin, his muscled chest rubbing against Naruto's, his pale fingers wandering downwards... downwards until they brushed across Naruto's hard length...

Naruto gasped, when he fully comprehended _who _and _what _he was dreaming about.

...

...

"_I'll do anything for you," the boy, who was for some inexplicable reason shirtless, begged. "Anything to make you come back to me..."_

_Sasuke stared into his bright blue, tearful gaze. _

"_Anything? Are you quite sure about that?" he asked coldly._

"_I promise, Sasuke, just please come back!" Naruto pleaded. _

_Sasuke smirked, grabbing him by his golden hair, and pushing him down onto his knees._

"_Sasuke – what?" Naruto seemed confused, adorably so._

_Sasuke rapidly unzipped his pants, thrusting himself into Naruto's mouth, moaning as he felt the wetness around him._

_Naruto's blue eyes glinted mischievously, and he began to lick, suck, swirl his tongue around as Sasuke gripped his hair and bucked into him..._

When Kabuto came to investigate the source of Sasuke's moans, he found the boy thrashing on the bed, a look similar to what one has when they are in the throes of pleasure, fixed on his usually stoic face.

...

...

"It was the curse seal," Sasuke lied immediately when questioned. "I was in pain and that is why I screamed, that is why my face contorted. Nothing more."

Kabuto and Orochimaru seemed satisfied with the response, thankfully for him.

...

...

Y_ou're being ridiculous, _Naruto told himself. _He's a traitor._

Of course Naruto would never believe that Sasuke was actually a traitor.

_Well he doesn't care about you that way, he was only a friend. You're interested in Sakura-chan, not that bastard – not in that way!_

No amount of self-conviction worked – Naruto's dreams grew more common, and more explicit, some even so much so that Jiraiya, the mega-pervert would have blushed.

_What's wrong with me? Why is that goddamn bastard so – appealing all of a sudden?_

...

...

_Revenge, _Sasuke chided himself mentally. _Focus on revenge. You have to kill Itachi. He's a murderer. You have no time or energy for all of this._

...

...

'_Naruto,' Sasuke moaned from beneath him, looking at him with beseeching ebony eyes – wearing an expression similar to the one he'd worn when Naruto had held him after Haku's attack all those years back – except this time there was lust in his eyes as well..._

"_Naruto, I want you..." _

...

...

When they finally met again, at Team Seven's so called 'Reunion', Sasuke didn't move to kill him immediately, like he had Kakashi and Sakura. They stared each other down, dark eyes drowned in blue ones, drinking in the other's appearance, the air between them crackling with electricity. Then in one fluid movement, they charged together, repeating the actions they had so many years ago.

"Chidori!"

"Rasengan!"

...

...

"I'm glad I met you," Naruto said happily, a genuine smile on his face as their attacks melded, the lightening and spinning wind ripping each other apart.

Sasuke's eyes softened.

"Nothing you say can change my mind now, Naruto," he said slowly, though Naruto swore his voice wavered ever so slightly when he said this.

...

...

"Wait," Sasuke ordered Madara, as the older Uchiha made to warp him away using his time-space jutsu.

Naruto grinned. So Sasuke did actually want to listen to what he had to say.

Which could only mean one thing... somewhere within him, Sasuke still _cared_.

...

...

"I will shoulder your hatred, and we will both die together," Naruto promised, assessing Sasuke for a reaction.

It was immediate – Sasuke's eyes widened in disbelief, and when he spoke his tone was frantic.

"Why?! What the fuck is wrong with you?! Why do you care about me so much?!"

_Concerned, are we, Sasuke? _Naruto wondered.

He smiled at the furious boy, blue eyes crinkling.

"Because we're friends," Naruto replied.

...

...

After the final battle, Naruto was seen dragging his battered frame back to Konoha. His clothes were torn, his face streaked with sweat, grime and blood, and a sizzling but healing wound was at his side. His eyes however, were as bright as ever, possibly with an extra sparkle in them.

For in his arms, was the even more battered, bloodied, but partially conscious form of Sasuke Uchiha.

...

...

When Tsunade ordered that Sasuke be detained at the ANBU headquarters for his a year, before he could be deemed trustworthy, Naruto immediately jumped up to express his disapproval.

"NO WAY!" he shouted, eyes blazing. "You can't do that to Sasuke!!"

Tsunade fixed him with a stern look, her amber eyes flashing.

"Don't tell me what and what not to do, you impish brat! I'm the Hokage!"

"But Sasuke's my friend," Naruto whined. "I don't want him all jailed up!"

"He would very well deserve it," Tsunade spat, shooting the Uchiha a dirty look.

"But still – if he is willing to be a part of Konoha again, at least let him live in a normal house!"

"And where do you propose I house him?" she asked. "On his own, so he can run away again?"

"He's not going to run away," Naruto said confidently.

"I can't keep him unguarded, and the Hyuuga, Inuzaka, Nara and other clans have all disagreed to keeping him with them."

"I'll keep him," Naruto said loudly, avoiding Sasuke's surprised gaze when the raven-haired boy turned to look at him. "Sasuke – he can – he can stay with me."

...

...

"So – um, it's kinda small you know... and I only have one bed," Naruto said scratching his head awkwardly. "We can take turns sleeping on the couch, though since you've been such a bastard I think you should let me have the bed to myself, unless you want to share... and there's only one bathroom too, and my TV doesn't really work that well..."

He rambled on, feeling suddenly very self-conscious.

Sasuke watched him silently, before offering.

"I'll sleep on the couch, and I don't watch TV anyways."

"Um – okay great... so you wanna grab some ramen?"

...

...

"Hey, Sasuke! What are you doing?!"

"... isn't it obvious?"

"I didn't know you could cook! Wow, that smells good-"

"Get your dirty hands away from it, dobe."

"Hey! Don't call me that you bastard! And how come you know how to cook! That's so – _girly_!"

"It's healthier than eating your disgusting noodles with soup all day."

"DID YOU JUST INSULT MY RAMEN YOU BASTARD?!!!!"

"Hn. Moron. If you shut up I won't give you any."

"Fine! See if I care! You insulted my ramen, you asshole! How could you?!"

"..."

"Hey, that looks really yummy. I want some!"

"..."

"Fine, fine, I'm sorry okay! Stop being so prissy, Sasuke, geez."

"Idiot."

"Thanks – hey that's really good! If you were a girl I'd totally marry you for your cooking!!"

"..."

"Okay, I take that back, don't kill me!!!"

"Hn. Dobe."

"Stop glaring at me. It was only a joke... I'd _never _marry you, you're too much of a prick!"

"Naruto, stop talking _now._"

"Heh heh... yeah, I think you're right..."

...

...

The living arrangements were amicable, and worked well enough. They'd argue, banter, and sometimes even spar (and damage the surrounding furniture, but that could always be fixed).

The only downside, for Naruto at least, was that the dreams were becoming much more frequent. And with someone as inhumanly attractive as Sasuke in the house... things did get a bit awkward at times.

...

...

"Have you heard the news?" Sakura squealed excitedly, rushing over to Naruto and Sasuke one morning as they sat at Ichiraku. She was accompanied by an equally excited Ino.

"What? What happened?" Naruto asked.

"Neji proposed to Tenten last night!" Ino exclaimed breathlessly. "They're engaged!"

"Wow," Naruto said. "That's awesome!"

"I know, isn't it!" Sakura gushed. "It's the sweetest thing ever, she's been in love with him for so long..."

"Don't the Hyuuga clan have issues with an outsider marrying into them?" Sasuke asked quietly.

Ino brushed him off.

"Oh, no, not when it comes to Tenten," ino said dismissively. "Hiashi practically adores the girl, she even gets invited to all their snobbish little functions!"

"It's so romantic," Sakura sighed. "Two teammates, falling in love and marrying..."

She looked pointedly at Sasuke when she said this. Sasuke made it a point to stare at the floor. Sakura had been insinuating things since the day he came back. Though he may have had a miniscule crush on her before, he definitely had no feelings for her now.

He avoided her eyes, but he didn't miss the sad look that flickered across Naruto's face.

_Don't tell me, _Sasuke thought incredulously. _He still – likes her?!_

...

...

Naruto was sprawled against his bed, gloomily.

Of course.

Sasuke and Sakura.

How could he forget? It would happen sooner or later. And he'd be left alone.

He'd gotten over _her _ages ago. What was bothering him, surprisingly enough, was the idea that _she'd _steal _Sasuke _away from him...

...

...

"I don't see why you're sulking over her so much," Sasuke said at night, all of a sudden.

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked, bemused.

"Sakura," he said shortly. "You deserve better, Naruto."

"I – I – what?!" Naruto was now utterly discombobulated, though he blushed slightly at Sasuke's remark.

"I said, you deserve better, Naruto," Sasuke repeated slowly.

Naruto blinked at him.

"Why would – _you_ of all people say that? Or is it 'cause you want her to yourself and think I'd be competition?"

Sasuke snorted.

"Yeah, right..."

Naruto's face fell.

"I suppose so. I mean, who'd choose _me _when they could have _you..._"

Sasuke stared at him.

"That's not what I meant Naruto," he said. "I'm not even interested in her that way."

"Y-you're not?" Naruto asked incredulously. "But she – she's Sakura-chan! She's smart, she's pretty, she loves you ..."

Sasuke shrugged, continuing to look into Naruto's eyes.

"Well, maybe that's not what I want," he said simply.

"Well what do you want, Sasuke?" Naruto asked, though he wasn't sure he wanted to hear the answer. He was immensely relieved, however, when Sasuke expressed his disinterest in Sakura.

_That doesn't mean he'd go for you though, _Naruto reminded himself.

"Someone – different," Sasuke said evasively.

"Like what?! Describe!" Naruto persisted.

Sasuke sighed.

"It's pointless. I can't get – them anyways..."

Now Naruto was even more flabbergasted.

"Oh come on! You can get any girl you want! You know it, Sasuke, they'd all fall at your feet if you asked them!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"I think you're being ungrateful," Naruto said. "I'd be so happy if people liked me as much as they liked you! But no, to them I'm some sort of a – a _monster_..."

...

...

Somehow, the conversation had led to an argument, which led to a rant, and Naruto found himself pouring his heart out to none other than Sasuke Uchiha, his best friend, his _rival..._

"And everyone hated me, I didn't know why! Even in the academy – you – you were the only – person who'd sit with me," Naruto sobbed. "And then – all of a sudden, even you – you started ignoring me!"

"I'm sorry," Sasuke offered. "But that's when – my family was massacred, I was pretty disturbed..."

"I'm not saying it's your fault!" Naruto corrected himself hastily. "You were actually one of the few people who acknowledged me, which is why I tried so hard to get you back! It's just – I always wanted to settle down, live happily, and become Hokage... but – but it's not the same!"

To Naruto's total shock (and secret delight) Sasuke, who was sitting on the opposite side of the couch, suddenly scooted over to him, and wrapped an arm around Naruto's shoulder, pulling the blonde boy towards him.

...

...

Naruto froze – he could feel the heat radiating from Sasuke's body, feel the fresh musky scent of him... he was so close, in a very uncharacteristic gesture of affection.

Naruto felt immensely grateful towards Sasuke; but he also felt _rather _turned on.

Sasuke's hand was now running soothingly along his bare arm. Naruto shuddered, and crossed his legs, attempting to hide the growing bulge. He could feel Sasuke's breath tickling his ear.

...

...

Sasuke smirked, deactivating the Sharingan.

Naruto was obviously _enjoying _this, he realized.

...

...

"Naruto," Sasuke murmured softly, his voice sending shivers down Naruto's spine. "Should I tell you something?"

There was something so _seductive _about the way Sasuke was speaking to him... Naruto had to clench his fist, and cross his legs even tighter to prevent himself from giving his feelings away.

Sasuke gripped Naruto's chin gently, forcing to meet his dark eyes. Sasuke was smirking; it was a delicious smirk, and Naruto stared at him transfixed.

Sasuke dragged his hand across Naruto's back, fingertips brushing the bare skin underneath his t-shirt, and he took one of Naruto's hands in his own, entwining the fingers.

"Wh-what?" Naruto asked, dazed, unable to say more.

"You were asking me before – to describe what I wanted, right?"

Naruto was melting – if Sasuke continued to speak to him in that soft, _seductive _voice, he'd certainly go mad. Though Sasuke probably didn't mean to be seductive, he was just naturally that _sexy. _

It wasn't fair, Naruto thought. Sasuke get's everything – the sexy body, the hot voice!

Or maybe the bastard knew the kind of effect he had on Naruto and was messing with his head! That was a very bastard-ish thing to do...

All the same, under Sasuke's intense gaze, and the feeling of his fingers caressing Naruto's own, Naruto's brains had turned to jelly, and he couldn't quite say much.

...

...

"I'd want someone – spirited... determined... not necessarily _smart, _but someone who worked hard to achieve their goal no matter what..."

Naruto was in a daze, though he felt a pang of jealousy.

_Who the heck is he talking about?! _

"Someone who pushed me to my limits, insulted me rather than worshipped me, someone who forced me to become better than what I am..."

_Damn, he smells nice..._

Sasuke moved closer, his nose now brushing Naruto's. Naruto jerked out of his reverie, heart leaping.

"And quite honestly," Sasuke whispered, his voice husky, his breath fanning Naruto's lips, "I'd prefer a blonde...with blue eyes..."

_He's screwing with me, _Naruto's brain screamed. _He's trying to embarrass me, I bet!_

He couldn't hope that Sasuke actually meant it – it would hurt too much if it turned out to be some sick prank.

"Is this some sick joke?" Naruto demanded, his voice trembling. Sasuke gazed into his eyes, brushing his cheek with a fingertip.

"Why would you think that?" he asked huskily, lips now centimetres from Naruto's own.

Naruto's heart raced. He'd never wanted anything more in his entire _life... _not even the title of Hokage... but still, it seemed to good to be true – either it was a henge, like the one he'd pulled on Sakura years ago (maybe she was doing it for revenge on him) or it was a genjutsu... it _had _to be... how else would his beloved, cold-hearted Sasuke be so close, so affectionate, whispering things Naruto had only dreamt of?

Naruto's heart pounded, anticipation and heat filling every nerve in his body, as Sasuke moved closer, softly sliding his lips over Naruto's own.

...

...

He was surprisingly gentle, the first time they kissed. Sasuke's hands wound up in Naruto's golden hair, and he ran his tongue along Naruto's lower lip, asking for entry, rather than forcing his way through like he had in some of Naruto's illicit fantasies.

It was perfect, and Naruto had never felt that _happy, _that _fulfilled, _that _aroused _in his entire life.

...

...

Their relationship was not always as – violent as one would expect. Sure, they had their lust-filled moments where their tongues battled, where their hands scratched and grabbed at hair, where teeth bit down into flesh marking the other, where their bodies wrestled for dominion on the bed...

But there were other times, when Sasuke was unbelievably gentle, as he slowly unzipped Naruto's jumper, ran his hands across the tanned chest, traced the same path with his tongue and lips...

...

...

"Yeah right," Naruto scoffed. "Like I'd ever scream for you!"

Sasuke raised an elegant eyebrow, amused by the path the conversation had taken.

"I bet I'll be topping you most of the time! You'll be screaming _my name, _believe it!"

"Is that a challenge?" Sasuke asked softly.

Naruto grinned.

"Hell yeah!"

...

...

"Sasukeee...." Naruto moaned unashamed, as the skilful hands caressed his manhood. Sasuke smirked at him, and Naruto had to bite back a scream when the hands were replaced by lips and a wet tongue, teasing mercilessly.

Sasuke looked up at him, sucking hard, dark eyes bright. Naruto finally did scream, and when he did, Sasuke pulled back with a triumphant smirk.

H e stood and deftly zipped Naruto's pants back up, before tapping him on the forehead with two fingers.

"I win, Naruto," Sasuke said smoothly.

"You – you bastard!" Naruto screeched, nearly incoherent. "At least – at least _finish _what you started!!"

...

...

"We were sparring," Naruto said quickly, straightening out his rumpled clothes and hair.

Sasuke said nothing, but fixed the man in the door with a death glare, as he pulled his collar up to hide the bite marks and bruises on his pale neck.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, grinning under the mask.

"I'm sure you were," he said, winking.

...

...

"Sasuke-kuuun," Sakura cooed. "Do you want to go- WHAAAAT?!!!!"

Sakura's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, and she screeched in rightful indignation as Naruto sauntered up to the man of her dreams, grabbed his neck, and pressed their lips together in a searing kiss.

Sakura was even more stunned when Sasuke responded with equal enthusiasm, one hand sneaking under Naruto's black fishnet t-shirt.

...

...

"As heartbroken as I am for your sake," Ino told a sniffling Sakura, "You have to admit, it's pretty darn _hot_!"

Sakura glared at her, though blushed profusely.

"Just imagine how it'll be in missions!" Ino exclaimed. "Like free hot gay porn!"

"Shut up pig!" Sakura shrieked, though even she had to admit...

It _was _a nice sight...

...

...

"Konohamaru," Naruto said sternly, as the boy made a pair of girls nearly nosebleed to death with his Sexy no Jutsu, Boy on Boy style, which featured Sasuke and Sai getting at it.

"Hey, boss!" Konohamaru greeted cheerfully.

"I'm afraid I must ask you to – _modify _– that jutsu of yours..."

...

...

"Hey, don't cry, Hinata," Kiba said gently, wrapping an arm around the sobbing girl's shoulders. The white-eyed Hyuuga heiress, had _not _taken the news of Naruto and Sasuke together too well...

"You're a beautiful girl, you'll surely find someone else," he said, stroking her silky hair.

Shino rolled his eyes. It was obvious that Kiba was just bursting to shout out with joy that he _finally _had a chance on winning over the girl's heart.

...

...

"You know – what, Sasuke?" Naruto gasped, struggling to form a sentence, as the boy in question ravaged his body with his lips and teeth.

"Hn?"

"I – oh, do that again, Sasuke – I think I – oh, _wow_ – think I love – aaaaaaaaah.... Sasukeee!!!"

Naruto panted, eyes rolling back, clutching the sheets.

Sasuke suddenly stopped his ministrations, looking up at Naruto's euphoric face.

"You were saying?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Naruto looked at him dreamily.

"I – I love you..."

...

...

...

_A/N – ooh, I feel naughty. PLEASE REVIEW!!! Lame ending, I know.. but really I could've gone on forever with that... _


	3. In the cave

_A/N – thank you thank you for all the reviews! I read and appreciated all of them! You guys rule =) I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while… but here's the newest oneshot._

_Disclaimer – I don't own Naruto or Sasuke_

_Warning – copious amounts of emo-ing, angsting, fluff and OOC-ness. But whatever…_

…

…

…

"Damnit," Naruto choked, doubling over as he pressed his hands to the gaping wound in his stomach, warm blood seeping through his fingertips, running down in crimson rivulets across his skin.

He waited for a few moments, waited for the familiar tingling feeling, as the Kyuubi's chakra would inadvertently heal his wounds, as usual, leaving the skin untainted and unharmed.

Nothing happen. The agonizing, searing pain continued, blood continuing to flow out unchecked, staining his orange jumpsuit.

It had been like that for a while. Ever since he'd released the old seal, and locked the Kyuubi into the confines of his mind with his mother's aid, it had been like this. Though Naruto was now able to suppress and control the demon from breaking out, the Kyuubi was understandably furious at being incarcerated. His rage fueled pure sadism, and the Kyuubi has stopped healing Naruto's wounds. This was partially because Naruto had greater difficulty drawing upon the Kyuubi chakra – it didn't come flowing out to heal him naturally as it had when he'd been injured before. He had to call for it forcefully – and even if he managed that, Naruto had no clue how to heal anything himself. He'd never been one for medical ninjutsu. And the Kyuubi, bitter with resentment, preferred _not _to heal Naruto himself, preferring to allow the boy hours, and sometimes even days of agony. As long as the injury didn't kill Naruto, the Kyuubi couldn't have cared less for the well-being of its host. Not after Naruto had recently joined up with his mother against the Kyuubi in a ferocious mental battle, an act the legendary fox considered absolute treachery.

_You stupid fox! _Naruto screeched mentally, _do something! I can't fight like this!_

_Endure the pain, you foolish brat, _the beast snarled back, it's voice rumbling with hatred, _Endure it like I have endured my condition. Do not think you can bend me to your will anymore! Maybe if you and that little vamp, Kushina, hadn't encaged me like this, the situation would have been different!_

But Naruto couldn't do anything. They were in the middle of a war, and there was no medic in sight. Sakura was somewhere, undoubtedly smashing deep crevices and craters into the ground, and Tsunade was away as well.

There had been no medic assigned to stay near him, for a few reasons. Firstly, any fight Naruto engaged in would be too dangerous and it was preferably any other shinobi stayed a good distance away from the flying balls of whirling chakra which he had a propensity towards creating. Secondly, they had assumed that though the Kyuubi was locked, Naruto had retained his self-healing tendencies and hence needed no medic.

They had been mistaken, as Naruto soon discovered to his great horror. He was covered with scratches and gashes, from errant kunai, or other attacks. But nothing had been this serious before – blood was literally gushing out of the wound at his stomach, and to Naruto, who had been unaccustomed to prolonged pain from flesh wounds, it was debilitating.

Still, he had to focus. His opponent this time was particularly skilled, and being a skilled medic-nin himself, obviously surmised Naruto's knew weakness.

Kabuto chuckled, the sword slipping into the snake's gaping mouth, which soon retracted into his own. Naruto had been caught off guards, not expecting one of Orochimaru's attacks from him.

"I see your body isn't healing as you've grown accustomed to, Naruto-kun," he goaded, his voice tinged with malice, "How _sad. _It seems with your constant healing, you thought you were resistant to prolonged injury. Now you finally know what it's like, fighting while being constantly weighed down by it…"

"That's not true," Naruto gasped, righting himself back up and creating a few shadow clones.

It was unfortunate that his training with Killer Bee had been called off, and he'd been forced to enter the war. But it had been an emergency. Konoha had been taken off guard by the reemergence of Edo-Tensei'd Akatsuki members and the new alliance between Kabuto/Orochimaru (no one knew which it was really) and Madara. However, this meant that Naruto hadn't completed his training and wasn't fully able to control his fox, and the powers it had to offer him. He'd relied almost instinctively on the Kyuubi's chakra to back him up automatically, but now that system was gone. He had to handle the chakra himself, direct it and manipulate it himself. It was a new concept for Naruto, being able to grasp and control such gargantuan amounts of chakra, and hence he was relatively disadvantaged, at least in front of opponents like Kabuto, who had precise chakra control.

The clones charged forward in attack, while Naruto reeled from blood loss; he never appreciated how difficult and dangerous battles had always been for average shinobi thanks to his Kyuubi-induced immortality. Wounds which he'd once considered trivial were now becoming life-threatening.

Kabuto soon got past the clones, summoning dozens of giant snakes, which began to slither menacingly towards Naruto.

Natuto cursed again, as he struggled to form a Rasengan, which was proving slightly more challenging than usual due to the overflow of chakra in his system. He finally managed, though it was larger than he'd intended (not really a problem), a tightly condensed mass of spinning blue and orange chakra. He hurled it towards the snakes, obliterating them all as the wind sliced through their slick bodies, scattering blood and scales everywhere. Naruto continued on, charging at Kabuto, who smirked.

"You're still trying the same tricks, huh? Didn't you learn from last time, that won't work on me…" he said superciliously.

"We'll see about that!" Naruto growled, charging at him with a loud cry of 'Rasengan!'

It connected, but before it did, Kabuto emitted glowing green chakra, protecting his body from most of the damage, healing the skin as the wind began to cut through it.

Naruto fell to the ground, coughing up more blood, his chest throbbing. That jutsu had taken a toll on him – a toll it never should have. This injury was affecting him far too badly.

Kabuto smirked, and more snakes emerged from his sleeves, hissing as they struck out at him. Naruto managed to slash them away with a kunai, clenching his teeth as his stomach gave another agonizing jolt.

He would not succumb. He was powerful, for stronger than this! He was the future Hokage of Konoha! There was no way he was losing out now, believe it!

But there was nothing he could do, not when he was injured this badly. Kabuto's tongue extended out again, followed by a snake and a gleaming sword, pointing straight at him as Kabuto lunged forward.

He couldn't slip into Sage Mode – there was _no need _for Sage Mode anymore, for Naruto already had overwhelming amounts of chakra thanks to the Kyuubi. But the problem was, unlike Sage Chakra, he couldn't control it yet. And slipping into Sage Mode now was too dangerous – the sheer amount of chakra he would gathered, combined with the Kyuubi's and his already vast reserves would tear him apart form the inside. The toads had warned him against it.

Naruto created a few clones, and a split second later, an enormous Rasenrengan was whirling in his hands. He aimed it and fired, but Kabuto managed to summon another giant snake to absorb the attack. Naruto cringed as the giant reptile was shredded to pieces – what a waste of chakra…

And then Kabuto was right there, the sword inches away from piercing into his flesh, inches away from causing what would certainly be a fatal wound…

And then, there was a sudden blur of white and indigo, and Kabuto was knocked aside, his sword missing Naruto by a hair's length. There was a gleaming flash of silver, and a sickening splattering sound, as Kabuto's head toppled to the floor.

He wasn't dead – the immortal could not be killed so easily, and Orochimaru certainly would return in some way or the other – but Naruto didn't care, as he stared ahead, his blue eyes wide, his stomach lurching, not because of the pain, but because of the painfully familiar chakra that had flooded over his senses, numbing his mind.

His savior sheathed his katana, not even bothering to wipe the blood off the blade first, standing in front of Naruto almost protectively.

Naruto recognized him – the confident, proud, stall stance, the icy cold chakra, the spiky black hairstyle, the red and white fan embroidered on the cloth at the base of his neck.

The figure turned around, midnight black eyes locking with Naruto's own, and Naruto felt his heart leap, the way it always had when his starved eyes caught a glimpse of the boy – or, was he a man now? They were both eighteen after all.

"Sa-Sasuke?" he croaked, trembling slightly.

Sasuke's dark eyes narrowed, his face as hard and indifferent as ever.

His gaze bored into Naruto's, and the two boys stared at each other for a few moments, slanted black eyes boring into wide blue ones.

Naruto felt an odd, fluttering feeling in his stomach – that injury was really troubling him…

And then, the corners of Sasuke's lips twitched, forming his usually ubiquitous, arrogant smirk.

Naruto almost expected a derogatory scoff, or a pejorative 'Dobe' at that moment, the expression was so familiar.

The last time they'd met, Sasuke had just glared at him, his face hard, not smirking even once (though he had laughed rather maniacally, which had been disturbing). Naruto thought his eyes had saddened towards the end of their debacle, but it had probably been just wishful thinking. Naruto had always hoped and wished when it came to Sasuke, ever since they were kids.

But Sasuke said nothing, his gaze sliding down from Naruto's face to the blood pooling at his stomach, black eyebrows furrowing slightly. It was almost a frown. Naruto guessed he was surprised that he hadn't healed yet. Sasuke wouldn't know about the Kyuubi.

The dark eyes then flickered around the battlefield, before their owner seemed to come to some sort of decision, his lips tightening into a straight line. He leaned forward, and Naruto expected some kind of an attack. Sasuke would never willingly come close to him otherwise.

But he was shocked, as Sasuke grabbed his upper arm with what would have been bruising strength for any lesser shinobi but Naruto, his dark eyes bleeding over into a star-shaped pattern, and Naruto suddenly found himself being teleported away.

The world spun around him, making him feel unbelievably nauseous, the pain in his stomach doubling, until he suddenly landed on something hard.

"Ugh," was all Naruto said, steadying himself, feeling rather disoriented as he surveyed his surroundings.

They were in a cave of some sorts – far away from the battle field, as Naruto could hear no battle cries or clashes of metal. A few rays of light penetrated the dark interiors from a small opening, and Naruto could here the rushing roar of what was unmistakably water.

He knew the jutsu – Kakashi had used it on him before. The time-space warping jutsu unique to Mangekyou Sharingan users.

Sasuke stood up, his back to Naruto, and both boys were silent.

_Why the hell has he bought me here? Probably to finish off our fight somewhere we can't be disturbed – but why isn't he attacking?_

There was silence for a few more moments, and Sasuke made no move to attack. Naruto wondered what the hell was wrong with him. He also felt slightly – excited? No – thrilled… no – tense? Naruto couldn't quite place what it was, but for some reason the prospect of being alone with Sasuke, after all these years – was enthralling.

Naruto finally deigned it necessary for him to speak, as Sasuke continued to stand with his back to him, attempting to ignore his existence, something which he'd usually specialized in.

"Why are we here?" Naruto asked, not bothering to keep the curiosity out of his voice. "Wait, no - _where_ are we?"

Sasuke turned to him, and Naruto's heart gave another funny leap which he proceeded to ignore, as the dark eyes met his own.

It was that same feeling he'd felt the last time he'd seen Sasuke, and the time before. It was the same feeling that had intensified when Sasuke had pressed his hard, muscular body against Naruto, katana at his neck, Sasuke's husky voice whispering in his ear.

Naruto hadn't realised _what _the feeling was. He was slightly dense that way, as poor Hinata Hyuuga had experienced. Even if this was _Sasuke, _Naruto hadn't quite been enlightened over his emotions about the Uchiha, even if the rest of Konoha found it odd how much he longed Sasuke's company, how long he'd chase relentlessly after him, even when he had the beautiful Hyuuga heiress ready to die for him, literally.

"You haven't realized yet?" Sasuke asked, his tone flat.

It struck Naruto odd, that Sasuke seemed to be – having a _conversation _with him. Without attempting to murder him. The usual homicidal glint wasn't present in those dark eyes. Sasuke almost looked – relaxed.

"No, I haven't," Naruto said, growing slightly impatient for answers.

They had been in the middle of a war. And then Sasuke had suddenly leapt in and _saved _him. The thought gave Naruto a rising feeling of hope – why would Sasuke save him if he hated him and wanted to kill him? It didn't make sense – that meant Sasuke cared, right? Unless he had a more selfish motive, like wanting to kill Naruto himself. That would be a bastardly, but rather Sasuke-ish thing to do. However, when it came to Sasuke, as usual, Naruto refused to think badly of him.

Sasuke didn't speak, looking at Naruto expectantly. It was odd, how after all that separation, they still knew each other eerily well. Sasuke knew Naruto was about to begin some sort of long, drawn-out rant, and had seen in futile to speak, instead waiting for the blonde to continue.

"And I don't care where we are! Why'd you drag me here? There's a battle going on, you know! I should be fighting! And – it's weird that you'd suddenly show up and save me – not that I needed saving or anything. I could've beaten that snake myself, dattebayo! Not that I don't appreciate it, 'cause I do. So thanks! But – I – why would you do that? I thought you hated me – and – we're supposed to fight! And I'm dragging your ass back to Konoha, you bastard! How could you – ugh! My body refuses to heal and I don't understand what the hell is going on!"

Sasuke smirked as Naruto rambled on, his fury and confusion melding into a rather amusingly loquacious speech.

"You can't fight, you're injured," Sasuke finally said matter-of-factly, his voice and face not revealing a trace of emotion. "And I had to step in. He would have killed you otherwise."

"But – but – but –" Naruto blubbered, flailing one arm as the other attempting to unsuccessfully stem the blow of blood, "Why – why would you – I thought we were rivals! I thought – you hated me! And I _could _have beaten him, I didn't need you!"

Sasuke's eyes flicked to his injury.

"Shut up," Sasuke said sharply, suddenly kneeling down at his side. Naruto froze, as his pale fingers made their way to the zipper at the neck of his jumpsuit collar.

"Wh-what're you doing?" Naruto screeched, shocked at his actions, as Sasuke began to tug the zipper downwards.

He felt another wild, hot feeling surge through his body, mingled with disbelief. The _last _thing he'd expected, after being reunited with Sasuke, was for his rival to – _undress _him, if that was what he was doing – it was too insane to even think about!

"Stop talking," Sasuke said shortly, as Naruto felt his face heat up at the sudden proximity of his raven-haired – bestfriendenemyrivalbond _whatever_ – and the fact that said person had completely unzipped his jumpsuit, and was now fingering the bottom edge of his black fishnet t-shirt.

"But-"

"You're injured, _moron,_" Sasuke snarled, and Naruto smiled painfully at the familiarity in his tone. He almost relished the fact that Sasuke was insulting him again – it gave him a sense of nostalgia. But that didn't quite resolve the fact that Sasuke's hands were at his shoulders, easing his jacket off.

"Someone has to heal this wound before it gets infected or you pass out from blood loss," Sasuke informed him, and the cutting edge of his voice made it sound like an insult, as if he were ridiculing Naruto for his idiocy at not noticing this fact earlier. In reality, he was.

"Oh," was all Naruto managed to say, feeling rather light-headed at Sasuke's fingers slipped under his shirt, brushing against the skin of his stomach. He felt an electric shock at that moment – it was almost as if Sasuke had used chidori on him – but even Naruto knew it wasn't that.

He wondered _why _he was allowing Sasuke to do this – if it was even necessary, or even appropriate – and _how _he'd managed to land himself in such a situation with Sasuke of all people, and why Sasuke was even bothering. Still, Naruto had never wanted anything more than to have Sasuke pay attention to him. And Sasuke was paying attention to him now, albeit in a completely _different _way, as he carefully lifted up the sticky, wet material of Naruto's t-shirt. So Naruto wasn't about to protest; after all, he could barely move, let alone heal that damn injury. So if Sasuke suddenly was overcome by charity and wanted to help him, Naruto would let him, no matter how uncharacteristic it was.

_Probably his way of making up for all the crap he put me through, _Naruto thought.

"Raise your arms," Sasuke commanded, and Naruto flushed horribly.

"Wh-what?"

"Raise your arms," Sasuke repeated, rolling his eyes – again, the familiarity of his tone at that moment send a stab of pain through Naruto. It was almost as if they were teammates again, Sasuke helping him out of some idiotic mess he'd landed himself into. But they weren't – and yet, Sasuke was helping him.

"Naruto, we need to get this shirt off so I can have a look at your wound," Sasuke snapped impatiently, and Naruto obediently raised his arms, allowing Sasuke to pull his shirt off.

Though he may be dense, Naruto wasn't completely stupid. He knew what it would look like, if someone walked in one them at that moment. He'd had enough training with the King of Perverts, his dear Ero-Sannin to know that.

The shirt was off, and Naruto blushed furiously, as he sat bare-chested in front of Sasuke, who was gazing at his stomach with narrow eyes. Naruto thanked all that rigorous physical training Jiraiya had put him through. At least his torso was now tanned and muscular to Sasuke's sight. Though Naruto wondered _why _Sasuke seeing his body should have even bothered him. They'd been to hot springs before when they'd been genin together, though that had been years ago.

_It's only 'cause I don't want him to have a better body than me, _Naruto assured himself, _Nothing else. Why would I care what that teme thinks? I bet my body is better than his, though his is probably really hot too… wait, why I am I thinking about this? Kami-sama, Ero-Sannin has turned me into a pervert! I don't want to see Sasuke's hot naked bod – ugh NO! Stop right there! Stop, you stupid stupid mind! Kyuubi, this is your fault! You've done something! I can't be having thoughts like that on Sasuke! Nooo! That's gross!_

While Naruto engaged his mind in a rather furious altercation, his cheeks reddening, Sasuke had ripped a strip of fabric from his shirt, and was gently wiping away the excess blood.

"OW!" Naruto yelped, hips jerking forward when Sasuke accidentally brushed his open wound.

"Control yourself," Sasuke hissed, but he continued, his dark head bowed slightly, eyes narrowed in concentration. One hand moved down to grip Naruto's hip tightly, preventing him from moving again, and the other continued to dab gently around his stomach.

Naruto felt heat build up within him, pooling to a rather inconvenient location.

_No! Not that now! I don't need Sasuke to see it!_

He couldn't help it though – Sasuke's hand was warm against his hip – it was a rather intimate position – and he was being so _gentle _– Naruto had never expected _Sasuke _to ever be gentle, especially with him.

Naruto said no more though, and there was an awkward silence in the cave for a few moments. Naruto stared at Sasuke's face – he had a handsome face, his chiseled features almost perfect, his skin fair and unblemished, his eyes dark with a startling intensity – seeing that face morphed into a look of concentration, having those intense eyes focused on _him _– it was an exhilarating feeling, and Naruto suddenly felt rather tight in his pants.

_Damnit! No, no, no! I can't let him realize!  
_

Luckily, Sasuke was far too occupied with Naruto's injury. Once he finished cleaning it, he released Naruto's hip, placing both his hands over the wound, not quite touching it, but hovering over it. There was a glow of bluish chakra, and Naruto felt a familiar warm feeling spread through his stomach.

"Sasuke!" he gasped, "How can you –"

"I was around that creep, Kabuto, for three years," Sasuke responded before Naruto could finish his question. "He taught me the basics of medical ninjutsu."

"Cool," Naruto said weakly, not knowing what else to see. One question still resounded in his head – why was Sasuke doing this and not killing him, like he'd vowed to?

Sasuke didn't say anything in reply, concentrating on the healing. He managed to patch up most of Naruto's skin, though it was still reddish in color and inflamed.

"That's the best I can do," he said curtly, pulling his hands away, "The skin is still weak. You'll have to see a proper medic when we get back."

"Th-thank you," Naruto stuttered, watching as Sasuke shrugged back on long white sleeve, and began unwrapping white bandages from around his arm.

"What're you doing?" Naruto asked, trying not to admire the lean muscles of Sasuke's arm – that loose shirt covered too much, though it was becoming obvious to Naruto that Orochimaru and Madara had obviously trained Sasuke hard as well.

"Wrapping it up," Sasuke said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, as he pulled off the long white bandages. His hands were at Naruto's waist again, his fingertips brushing against Naruto's bare skin as he began to wrap around the wound. He had to bend slightly forward to access Naruto's back, bringing his face slightly closer to Naruto's own.

Naruto felt his own heart rate speed up, as he gazed at Sasuke's face, which was dangerously close, the dark eyes half-obscured by spikes of dark hair that had fallen over his face. Sasuke's hair was the same, though slightly longer. Naruto though it looked better this way, without a forehead protector restraining it – though he still wished Sasuke wore the forehead protector all the same.

The very same forehead protector which was in the breast pocket in the inner lining of his orange jumpsuit… Naruto had always kept it there, feeling almost reassured when he felt the hard metal against his chest as he leapt through tree branches on missions. It was almost like a bit of Sasuke, right with him, close to his heart.

It was slightly pathetic, but it was the most he could get.

But now, he had the _real _Sasuke. A living, breathing Sasuke, who was _sososo _close, and it was better than just cold metal.

"Why're you helping me?" Naruto finally asked, his voice choked.

Sasuke paused in the wrapping process, his hands resting at Naruto's back and looked up, his eyes almost level with Naruto, though slightly higher. It irked Naruto – Sasuke had always been an inch or so taller then him. Over the years, despite their growth spurts, this trait had continued.

Sasuke gazed at him from underneath dark lashes. Naruto had never admired how beautiful those lashes really were – _wait, what was he thinking?_

"I don't really know," Sasuke admitted softly, and Naruto's heart fluttered yet again at his tone.

_No wonder all those girls were all over him… I think I can understand why Sakura-chan and Ino like him so much… wait, NO! NO NO NO! Bad thoughts! Bad thoughts!  
_

"It's just – I saw him attacking you – and I had to jump in. My body just – moved," Sasuke said, echoing his own words from what felt like a different life.

Naruto smiled reminiscently. It had been the same excuse years ago, when Sasuke had jumped in to save him from Haku. He felt his eyes water, and his heart swell – he'd never expected that, not after all the hatred Sasuke had fostered.

"Again?" Naruto asked, his lips quirking upwards, "That means you do care, right?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Sasuke scoffed, though Naruto noticed it lacked his usual venom. "I don't care about you, Naruto. I told you, I've severed my bonds."

His hands still rested at Naruto's side, and his face was so close. Naruto could have leaned in and kissed him, at their proximity, though he wouldn't have dared even if the thought did cross his mind.

Somehow, their position took the meaning out of words which would have stabbed at Naruto's heart earlier when he'd said them, his voice acerbic, his comments slashing through Naruto liked giant fuuma shuriken.

"Then why did you save me? Why are you going out of the way to help me right now, when there's a war going on?" Naruto persisted, his voice unusually soft.

It was weird – he usually yelled out these proclamations. And Sasuke shouted right back at him. But right now, both of them were speaking in unusually dulcet tones.

"I have to kill you myself, remember?" Sasuke said, his lips twisting into some sort of grimace.

Naruto felt a sinking feeling inside of him – he should have expected that. But it was still odd, with the way Sasuke was treating him.

"Don't lie, Sasuke," Naruto pressed, his voice rising slightly, "Stop deluding yourself. If you hated me as much as you say you do, why don't you just kill me right now, when I'm weakened? You have your chance – you had it years ago, at the Valley of the End."

"You _know _why I spared you then," Sasuke hissed, "It was a whim. I didn't want to satisfy Itachi at the time. And right now – I can't fight you in such a pathetic state. I have some dignity, _Naruto_."

The way he said his name made Naruto shiver. Somehow, the way Sasuke said his name, in a low, breathy voice – it made him feel _hot _and bothered.

"I don't believe you," Naruto shot back, his blue eyes narrowing, "You keep saying all that, but you never actually hurt me. Just admit it, Sasuke! Why can't you tell me the truth, for once! You still care about Konoha, you still care about Kakashi, you still care about Sakura, you still care about me!"

"No," Sasuke retorted immediately, his hands leaving Naruto's sides. Naruto found himself missing the warmth.

Sasuke's eyes flashed.

"I don't care about that god-forsaken village. And I certainly don't care about Kakashi. I don't care about Sakura either – I would've killed _her _if _you _hadn't interfered!" he snarled.

Naruto's heart leapt at the one omission, the one statement Sasuke had failed to deny.

He grabbed Sasuke's collar, wrenching him close, so close that he could feel Sasuke's breath on his lips.

Sasuke seemed to realize this.

"Don't kiss me again, _dobe, _it was traumatizing enough the first time," he said, his voice dripping with arrogance.

Naruto winced at his tone, remembering the rather compromising incident, but didn't move his face away, not caring how suggestive his actions may have seemed.

"Shut up," Naruto snarled, "Just shut the _fuck _up! You didn't deny it."

"What the _hell _are you talking about?"

Naruto's voice was heavy with emotion when he spoke next.

"You didn't deny that you cared about me – you said it about _them _– but you didn't deny it – you've never hurt me either, never attacked unless you knew I'd be able to fight back – you still _care _Sasuke, somewhere within you! I know you do!"

Naruto shook him, but Sasuke pulled away, glaring at him, Sharingan spinning in his eyes. He was silent for a moment, before sighing.

"Alright," Sasuke said dully, "Fine. You're right. I _do _care about you. I never hated you. Why would I? You were my best friend – I had no reason to."

"I – what?" Naruto whispered, reeling in shock, feeling warmer and happier than he had in years. Hearing it from Sasuke's lips – was just staggering.

"I care about you," Sasuke repeated tonelessly, "But only you. Not Sakura, not Kakashi, not Konoha. But it doesn't matter, does it. It's like we're destined to be rivals, destined to fight."

"You – you care about me," Naruto said, his voice dazed, but Sasuke grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking him roughly.

"It doesn't matter, Naruto!" Sasuke said, his voice almost desperate, "It doesn't change things! Don't get your hopes up!"

"But," Naruto continued, his blue eyes bright as they met Sasuke's, "Would you – would you come back for me then? If you – if you really do care? Would you, Sasuke?"

Sasuke looked away, and Naruto saw a flash of pain cross his face. His own stomach sank, realizing the response before Sasuke even provided it.

"Sasuke, _please-_"

"I won't Naruto," Sasuke said, looking and sounding genuinely regretful, "But I told you – don't get your hopes up. I'm not coming back."

"Why, Sasuke?" Naruto cried, "Why not? We all want you back, Sakura, Kakashi and I! You'd be forgiven, for everything! I know what happened with Itachi, but Sasuke – we really care about you too!"

"I still won't," Sasuke repeated, looking melancholic, "I almost _wish _I could bring myself to. But I can't. And I will not. So please, drop it, for your sake as well as mine. And I told you, I don't _care _about Kakashi and Sakura, so don't-"

"What about me then?" Naruto whispered, impulsively grabbing Sasuke's hands, "Won't you come back for me? I really – miss you – Sasuke. I've – wanted nothing more – over the last few years than – to bring you back. Without you – it's like –" Naruto's voice cracked, eyes tearing up as he continued, "Without you it's like – a part of me is missing. I can't – take it any longer! Please come back, if just for me!"

Sasuke's eyes were bright, and he bit his lip, shaking his head, clenching his fingers, his nails digging into Naruto's hand.

"I wish I could, Naruto," Sasuke said softly, "I wish I could, just for you. But I can't. I'm sorry. That's why I've tried to hate you all these years, to make it easier for both of us. But now I've admitted it, and yet my choice remains the same. No matter what you say, I won't change my mind."

"Why?" Naruto asked, tears now leaking out of his eyes, "Why won't you? Konoha's done _nothing _to wrong you! The Itachi incident was a _mistake, _but Tsunade would never, _ever –"_

"Drop it, Naruto," Sasuke said gently, but firmly, "You'd never leave Konoha for your life. Same way, I'd never come back. This is why I didn't want to tell you before. It's better I just let you hate me, then-"

"I'd never hate you!" Naruto declared passionately, "No matter how much of a bastard you are, no matter how many times you try to kill me! I could never hate you, Sasuke! You were my first friend, the first person to acknowledge me, my first –"

"Not the bond speech, Naruto," Sasuke said, sounding rather weary, "I can't take that right now."

"But Sasuke, I-"

"I could never hate you either, Naruto. No matter how much you _annoyed _me, no matter how many times you tried to force me to go against my goals – I could never hate you. Pathetic, right, the both of us?"

It was more emotion than Sasuke had ever shown, and Naruto felt his heart crack, tears streaming down his face.

"Stop crying like a girl," Sasuke muttered, pulling his hands away from Naruto's grip, "You're wasting your tears on me, Naruto. Just let me go, and fulfill your impossible dream…"

"That's not my dream anymore," Naruto sniffled, "My dream – is getting – you – even if I have to _die _for you, _die _by your hand, die _with _you-"

"_Why _Naruto?" Sasuke yelled, his voice rising suddenly, "I asked you then, and I'm asking you now. _Why do you go so far for me? Why the fuck do you care about me so much? _I'm not going to change, Naruto. Why are you wasting your life, when you know, in the end I'll be left with no choice but to kill you?"

"You know why. You made your choice, not to come back," Naruto said, his voice suddenly steely as he glared at Sasuke, "I've made mine. It sucks that we'll probably end up killing each other, but hey, at least we'll be together after that, right teme?"

Sasuke glowered back at him, moving away and leaning across the opposite wall, his arms crossed. Naruto shot him an equally dirty glower.

"You're such a stubborn asshole, y'know?" Naruto muttered after a few minutes.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted, scowling at him.

More time lapsed, in perfect silence, before Naruto sighed and finally struggled up, crawling towards where Sasuke was, and plopping himself down next to him.

Sasuke raised an elegant eyebrow questioningly.

"Well," Naruto said glumly, "At least for as long as we're here – how long is that, by the way – we may as well – talk…"

"I'm leaving in a few hours," Sasuke stated, "I'm not needed in this battle, not yet."

From what Naruto could tell judging by the light that streamed through the cave's opening, and the time that had passed, it was evening.

"Oh," he said, resolving to stay for as long as Sasuke did, and spend every possible moment with his – best friend.

"So what did you want to talk about?" Sasuke asked finally, his voice sounding rather uninterested.

Naruto ignored his tone, shrugging.

"Dunno… this is kinda weird – um – how has your training been going?" he offered, not quite comprehending that he was having such a conversation with Sasuke at such a time.

"Well enough," Sasuke said, smirking slightly before adding, "Far better than _yours _at any rate."

Naruto smiled, allowing himself to be taken by the easy bait.

"Yeah right," he scoffed, "I've become so _awesome! _I can totally kick you _ass_ now, you bastard!"

"Tch. As if."

"Seriously!" Naruto yelled, get far too involved in the argument, like he always had, "I know some _really _cool jutsu!"

"Too bad medical jutsu isn't one of them," Sasuke retorted, and Naruto blushed.

"Hehe," he laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head, "Well I always had the fox and Sakura-chan for that, so – um…"

"The fox?" Sasuke asked, looking puzzled, "You still have that – don't you?"

"Why d'you ask, so you can try and control it?" Naruto joked, recalling the last time Sasuke had done exactly that.

Sasuke shot him a death glare, and Naruto hastily backtracked.

"Nah, the bugger's still there, he's just – locked up better. I broke the seal, and then re-trapped him with a stronger one."

"Ah."

"Yeah. It's good because I don't have to worry about freaking out and him controlling me though. The downside is that I don't heal automatically anymore – but – well – that's when you came in, right?" Naruto blushed slightly, feeling rather shy as he looked at Sasuke.

"That's when I came in," Sasuke nodded, either not noticing, or choosing not to comment on Naruto's odd behaviour. "I was wondering why you were bleeding so much. Now it makes sense."

"I kinda took him for granted, you know. I'd never fought with an injury for so long, 'cause it usually healed before it could really hinder me in battle. And I wasn't able to train properly and learn to harness his chakra. That's why I was struggling against Kabuto – I could've easily beaten him if I was normal," Naruto went on, feeling rather embarrassed that Sasuke had caught him when his skills were relatively – off. He felt it necessary to explain to the other boy. For some reason, he didn't like the idea of looking bad in Sasuke's eyes.

"Are you trying to justify your failure in battle to me, dobe? Because I'll let you know, I'm not convinced," Sasuke teased, sounding amused.

"Shut up, you bastard! Like I'd ever have to justify anything to _you_!" Naruto shouted, mortified that Sasuke had been able to surmise his intentions so accurately – Sasuke hadn't noticed anything else, had he?

"Of course not," Sasuke scoffed, rolling his eyes.

They bantered for a while more, bickering like eleven-year olds, before Naruto opened another rather sensitive topic, one which he hadn't spoken to anyone else about.

"Hey, Sasuke," he said, scooting slightly closer to the raven-haired shinobi, "Should I tell you a secret?"

"…" Sasuke said nothing, staring ahead and waiting for him to continue.

"When I was – fighting off the Kyuubi in my mind – I met my mom."

"Hn."

"Yeah – it was great," Naruto said, his voice growing thick, "We talked for ages. It was kinda cool since I've never seen her before. She was like, in my mind, you know."

"Naruto," Sasuke began, almost believingly, but Naruto cut him off.

"I'm not making this up, okay! It actually happened. She was in my mind. Anyways, you know what she told me? Your mom and her, they used to be like, best friends! Isn't that cool?"

"Indeed," Sasuke said blandly, though Naruto could tell he was interested.

"Yeah! They really wanted us – to become best friends too…" Naruto said, trailing off and looking at Sasuke expectantly.

"What?" Sasuke asked, turning his head to meet Naruto's bright blue eyes.

"Well, um –" Naruto dropped his gaze, suddenly fidgeting with his fingers, seeming unusually shy.

"What is it, Naruto?" Sasuke asked impatiently.

"Well – d'you think that happened? Do you think – that we _are _best friends?" Naruto asked hesitatingly.

"I don't know," Sasuke said thoughtfully, "I – told you that years ago, didn't I?"

"Yeah," Naruto admitted, blushing, "But that was – years ago…"

"I said I cared about you, right?"

"It's – different," Naruto persisted, looking up, "So – are we, Sasuke?"

"Best friends?"

"Yeah…"

"Do best friends try to kill each other often?" Sasuke asked, his lips quirking.

"That wasn't funny!" Naruto shouted, suddenly angry, "Just – answer the question, damnit! Are we still?"

"I don't understand why you care so much about this," Sasuke sighed, but Naruto looked rather hurt, so he hastily continued.

"I'm not exactly – fond of anyone else – there _is _no one, really. But – I suppose – if you leave out the fact that we're kind of rivals who've sworn to – kill each other – then yes. We're best friends, Naruto."

Naruto beamed at this, his face brightening almost instantaneously, and even Sasuke found himself smiling back, one of his first genuine smiles.

"That's awesome," Naruto was saying, "I told my mom we were. She understood!"

"…"

"I've always wanted that, you know."

"Wanted what?" 

"Wanted to hear it from you, to hear you admit it. It feels great, doesn't it?" Naruto continued cheerfully.

"Hn."

"Hey Sasuke – um – even though you're a total bastard at times – you're really nice too, you know?"

"Don't get all emotional on me again," Sasuke said warningly, but Naruto paid him no heed.

"I'd never tell you all this, but seeing this is the only chance I might get to be with you, now I'm like, what the hell. I really like spending time with you, Sasuke. It's kinda cool…" Naruto rambled on, obviously pouring his heart out.

"Me too," Sasuke admitted after a while, his cold heart warming up ever so slightly at the delighted grin Naruto flashed at him.

"I wish things were different, y'know," Naruto said, "I wish we could just – hang out like this more often…"

"Hn," Sasuke gave a non-committal shrug, not knowing what to say.

"Right now, I can just pretend that there is no war, and that you're back in Konoha, and we're on some mission, you know – just – hanging out – on a mission – like – teammates-" Naruto's voice trembled at the last part, his eyes watering again.

"Naruto, let's not go there," Sasuke groaned, rubbing his temples.

"I'm sorry!" Naruto sniveled, "It's just – whenever I get close to you – you're gone again!"

"You knew that would happen, Naruto."

"Yeah but – hey, um – Sasuke – could you – do me a favor?"

Sasuke turned to him, flicking a few strands of ebony hair out of his eyes.

"What?" he asked, eyes narrowing suspiciously.

Naruto fumbled for a few moments, wondering if he dared to ask.

_He's going in a few hours. He'll be gone and you'll never be able to speak to him again, except until battle, when he's trying to kill you. Worst thing, he'll try and kill you now. You have nothing to lose, _he told himself.

"Could you – uh – give me a hug?" Naruto asked feebly, feeling incredibly foolish.

Sasuke stared at him, eyebrows high, obviously stunned by the request.

"Sorry?" he asked after a few moments, blinking.

"I asked," Naruto repeated, his face growing redder and redder, "If you could give me a hug! I know it's stupid – but – but – could you?"

It sounded pathetic to his own ears. But Naruto had been craving it, craving _physical contact _with Sasuke, and he couldn't help but blurting it out.

Sasuke would definitely deny him. And probably scoff at him – worse, Sasuke would _laugh _at him.

"Why?" Sasuke demanded, looking rather confused.

Naruto couldn't blame him – it was a rather random, whimsical request.

He struggled to come up with a response.

"Because – that's what friends do, okay!" he finally shouted out.

Sasuke continued to stare at him like he'd morphed into the Kyuubi itself.

Naruto felt his heart sink – of course, he hadn't expected much more, but it still hurt.

Suddenly he grew stiff, his stomach somersaulting, making him vaguely wonder if he'd summoned his toads within his own body, as Sasuke leaned forward, wrapping an arm around Naruto's shoulder, his other arm curling around Naruto's front, pulling the boy towards his chest.

Naruto felt warmth spreading throughout his body, as he felt the feeling of Sasuke's strong arms around him, the planes of his hard chest pressing into his back. Sasuke chin was at his shoulders, and his breath tickled Naruto's ear, causing a funny feeling to run down his spine, pooling near his lower regions.

"Happy?" Sasuke asked, his voice sounding rather resigned.

"Um – yeah," Naruto mumbled, blushing heavily.

"Why're you so tense?" Sasuke murmured, his voice low, and, in Naruto's opinion, orgasm-inducing.

"H-huh?" Naruto almost squeaked.

"You're stiff – and uncomfortable," Sasuke said, sounding annoyed, "_You _asked me for this, you know. Should I stop?"

"N-no!" Naruto said immediately, his voice unnaturally shrill, "You – just – stay right where you are!"

"O-kay," Sasuke sounded amused, almost as if he were humoring him, but Naruto didn't care.

He was grateful Sasuke was even granting his request, and he relaxed in Sasuke's arms, leaning back into Sasuke's chest and feeling his steady heartbeat. They'd never been this intimate, not even when they'd shared that first accidental kiss, which had actually been just a mashing of lips.

Naruto didn't care any longer what Sasuke would think of him, that Sasuke would probably discover his emotions, and the rather noticeable bulge in his pants. All he cared was that Sasuke was holding him – and it was pure bliss.

He could feel Sasuke's muscles rippling beneath the cloth that separated them. He'd known Sasuke was toned – he'd seen the muscular chest before, when Sasuke had been romping around in the gear Orochimaru had provided him with – but Sasuke had taken to more covering clothes now, and Naruto hadn't felt him so close before. It made him dizzy, and Naruto had a sudden vision of him and Sasuke, legs entangled and lips crashing together, as they tore one another's clothes off, fingers scraping and clawing at smooth, bare skin.

_No. No way. Don't even go there, _he warned his perverted mind, which was currently imagining up a rather explicit scene, worthy of Icha Icha.

"You know, no one's ever held me like this before," Naruto said aloud.

"…"

"I – never really had any family – so it's – kinda nice," he admitted.

His mouth had obviously decided to commence speaking on it's own, not listening to a word of advice from his brain. Naruto realized it didn't even matter, not with Sasuke.

"Me neither," Sasuke said after a while, his breath warm in Naruto's ear, "Not for twelve years, at least."

"We'd be awesome if we were together you know," Naruto said, "Like, if they made us an ANBU team together. I bet we'd have done that if you'd stayed."

"Possibly," Sasuke replied after a moment, before adding, "Aren't you still a genin?"

"Yeah well, so are you," Naruto retorted, "But you know both of us could kick any Jounin or ANBU's ass, believe it!"

"Hn."

"It's be awesome. I'd be like a – fox. Yeah. And my codename would be – Ramen!"

"Ramen?" Sasuke laughed, and Naruto nearly melted at the sound. He'd never heard Sasuke laugh before.

"I didn't know you were still that obsessed with noodles and soup," Sasuke said mockingly.

"Hey!" Naruto snapped, "Don't diss the Ramen! It's awesome!"

"Somehow, despite the numerous times you used to drag me to go eat it, I never quite realized that," Sasuke said sarcastically.

"Screw you! Your tastes obviously suck!"

"Not as much as you'd think," Sasuke muttered, shifting his hold on Naruto slightly.

"Huh?"

"Nothing," Sasuke said dismissively, quickly changing the topic, "Your ANBU codename, like your mask, is supposed to conceal your identity. I don't quite think _Ramen, _being the ludicrous name that it is, does that. Only an idiot like _you _would choose it. Far too obvious."

"Hey! Shut up! It's an awesome name – and I've never really been one for – concealing my identity!"

"I could tell…"

"How?"

"_Orange, _Naruto, orange," Sasuke said, shaking his head. His bangs brushed against Naruto's cheek.

"What's wrong with orange?" Naruto demanded.

"It's the loudest, most ostentatious color ever! It doesn't exactly _blend _with the surroundings as ninja garb is supposed to," Sasuke pointed out.

"Well, I don't need to blend in!"

"You don't even try. Screaming your arrival to all our enemies on missions like some sort of a retarded announcer-"

"I never did that!"

"You certainly did."

"Ugh – fine! But I'm still cooler than you. You know what your ANBU mask would've been? A snake! So there!"

"I'd prefer a hawk, thanks."

"Fine. And your name – would have been – ugh, can't think of one for you."

"…" Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"Well to me you're just Sasuke. And Teme. Neither of which are appropriate nicknames."

"Why are we discussing this? It's never happening, you know."

"…yeah, I know," Naruto said reluctantly, "But it's – nice to dream, right?"

One of Sasuke's hands found their way into his hair, stroking softly, and Naruto found it oddly soothing.

"Don't stop," he mumbled, when Sasuke halted his ministrations, "Keep doing that – Sasuke…"

He continued, and Naruto began to feel rather sleepy. Sasuke noticed. It was already nighttime anyhow, a few shafts of silvery light permeating the cave.

"You can go to sleep," Sasukee said, "You're not going to be able to fight like this…"

"Yeah well," Naruto stifled a yawn, "I don't want to. If I do, then you'll leave. And I don't want to wake up to see you gone again. Maybe if you'd just stay…"

Sasuke pushed him away slightly, looking deep into his eyes.

"I can't, Naruto."

"I know," Naruto bit his lip, suddenly standing up as he walked over to the orange and black jacket Sasuke had taken off earlier when he'd healed him (the fishnet t-shirt had come back on).

He rummaged in the pockets of the jacket, feeling Sasuke's eyes on him, before he finally pulled out a long blue piece of cloth. There was a shiny metal plate attached to it, a jagged slash across the insignia carved into the metal.

Sasuke's old forehead protector.

Naruto walked over to Sasuke, sitting down next to him, placing the metal plate on his forehead.

"Naruto," Sasuke said, his voice tinged with exasperation, "What are you doing?"

"I just want to see," Naruto said, his hands reaching around Sasuke's head to tie the cloth ends together. Sasuke didn't bother resisting.

"There," Naruto said, smiling sadly as he finished.

It was an odd sight, seeing Sasuke in that forehead protector, his dark bangs framing his face, looking almost like he had years ago, when they'd been teammates. Naruto felt a lump in his throat, and a familiar sting in his eyes.

Sasuke smiled, almost apologetically, shaking his head.

Naruto grabbed the sides of his head, pulling him close, so that their foreheads rested together, the metal of one hitai-ite scraping against the other.

A single tear dripped down his whiskered cheek, and Sasuke reached up, gently brushing it away with his fingertips, before pulling away.

"I'm sorry, Naruto," he whispered in response to the unspoken plea, "But the answer is still _no. _I'm not coming back. Not now, not ever."

He then untied the cloth, and Naruto felt his heart break, yet again, as he did, the pale fingers moving deftly against the blue cloth. Sasuke placed it back in Naruto's lap, and Naruto realized his dark eyes were shimmering with unshed moisture as well.

"Keep it with you," Sasuke murmured, his voice sounding broken, an expression of utter pain across his normally stoic face. "It's better off with you…"

He then did something which surprised Naruto greatly, and send shivers running up and down his spine, the toads that seemed to be bouncing around in his stomach multiplying.

Sasuke reached up, tugging at the black band of Naruto's forehead protector. It came undone, and Sasuke pulled it off, before stowing it into some hidden pocket of his own.

He then gripped Naruto's shoulders, leaning forward, and brushing his lips across Naruto's bare forehead.

Naruto froze, his eyes wide for a few moments, as it registered in his mind that _Sasuke Uchiha had just kissed him._

Sasuke's lips lingered there for a moment, and Naruto felt his hands squeezing on his shoulders once.

"I'm sorry, Naruto," he repeated, his voice cracking, and Naruto thought he felt something wet drip down onto his cheeks, melding with his own tears.

And then, before Naruto could even blink, before he could even call out his name, Sasuke was gone.

He disappeared, using his jutsu, leaving Naruto alone in the cave, clutching an old forehead protector, his head reeling and his heart thumping madly.

Naruto stood up wordlessly, a tempest of emotions inundated him, as he ran out of the cave, despite the fact that he knew he wouldn't be able to get him back.

He stopped at a sudden precipice, where the rock suddenly gave way, dropping steeply downward. The filling of roaring water filled his ears, and Naruto looked up at the star-studded sky, memories washing through him as he finally realized where they had been the entire time.

It was like an old wound that had been reopened, stabbed by a blunt kunai. But this time, the pain was less than he would have expected. Maybe it was because of Sasuke's actions earlier, and his words?

Naruto didn't feel as empty as he usually had when Sasuke had left him here the first time, at the Valley of the End, over six years ago.

He bought the hand clutching Sasuke's forehead protector to his lips, kissing the cold metal, imagining it to be an equally pair of cold lips instead.

He bought his other hand to his cheeks, wiping away his tears – Sasuke had been crying as well, before smiling slightly. Naruto touched his forehead, at the spot where Sasuke had kissed him, before wrapping the scratched forehead protector around it.

_He _wasn't a traitor. Tsunade would understand. And if people whispered about why he, Naruto, was wearing a missing-nin hitai-ite – well he'd just let them, letting the spiteful comments slide off him.

_When we meet again, Sasuke, _Naruto decided, _I'm going to give it my all. I know you will, too, so I guess I'm looking forward to it. _

…

…

…

_A/N – crazy, insane plot, I know. And yeah, very unlikely scenario, obviously. Why would they randomly just escape the war to bond? I have no clue. OOC, yes. But it felt really nice to write, even though I know I went overboard with the romance and the mush and the angsting (especially on Naruto's part). I've also made him overly shy and Hinata-ish. Somehow it just flowed that way =P I hope I've remained loyal to at least a few facets of their personality. _

_I don't know what's with me and writing angsty SasuNaru. I don't usually do angst =P And sorry if you'd been wanting them to make out or something, but I just couldn't get myself to write it like that… I may continue this, or add a part 2 if you guys really want, so tell me if you do. But anyways, please drop a review, and thanks for reading!_


	4. The 3rd person has to be a stranger!

_Author's Note – An idea I got that was somewhat inspired from a popular TV series. Guess which =P_

_Disclaimer – I don't own Naruto_

_**Warning – Contains explicit scenes. NaruSasuSaku. More SasuNaru/NaruSasu than anything though. Proceed at your own discretion. **_

#$%&

"Wh-what?" Sakura spluttered, practically choking on her drink, her jade-green eyes bulging out.

Sasuke sighed, thumping her on the back, and she regained control of herself.

"Could you – could you – repeat that, Sasuke-kun," Sakura breathed heavily, "I – I think I misheard you..."

Sasuke raked his hand through his dark bangs, fixing his teammate (and lover) with a stare.

"Judging by your reaction, I think you heard correctly, Sakura," he muttered.

"But that – that can't be right," Sakura said, raising a pink eyebrow, "You want – _you _who, in all these years of women practically _throwing _themselves at you, have never given any of them a second glance-"

"I'm with you, aren't I?" Sasuke questioned rhetorically.

"Yes, but that's besides the point," Sakura said exasperatedly, "I meant other than me. Sasuke-kun, until we started dating you've never displayed any interest in woman. And even after we started dating, they've been lusting after you anyways, and it's not like I'm insecure or anything, because trust me that's _hard _considering you never bother with any of them, _ever, _and you always look at them like they're some sort of _missing-nin_-"

"So then why are you complaining?" Sasuke asked, pointedly ignoring the not-so-obscure reference to his previous felony, "I obviously have shown where my loyalties lie."

"Yes but – but –" Sakura struggled with the words, "I just – didn't expect this from you! Other than me, you've never displayed any interest in other woman! It's just – kind of hard to digest! And frankly, Sasuke-kun, let's face it – you're a great kisser and all, but our sex life isn't all that exciting. I mean, _every _time, I'm in the mood, Naruto suddenly drops in to drag you off to Ichiraku's for ramen. I _never _wake up with you in bed because you're always off training with Naruto, again, and –"

"Your point?" Sasuke asked brusquely, reaching for a tomato.

"Well, you barely ever have sex or do _anything _sexual with me anymore. You completely _ignore _other girls and women, even hot ones like Ino. So why in the name of Kami-sama would you want a freaking _threesome?"_

Sakura had stood up now, and banged her glove-covered fist on her own kitchen table, where they had been sitting for a previously calm lunch. A large crack appeared down its length. Sasuke observed her, taking another bite out of his tomato and opting to remain silent; she obviously hadn't finished her tirade.

"I mean don't you realise that it would involve _another woman, _and _sex, _two things which I know definitely don't come on your list of 'Top Ten Things To Do on Mission-less Days', and yes I mean _literally," _Sakura took a deep breath, and continued,_ "_Furthermore, what gives you the idea I would even be okay with sharing you with another woman? I mean, again, I'm not insecure but – it's not like our relationship is the most stable thing in the world! You never even _hold _my hand in public, we haven't had sex in what – three months – we barely even kiss anymore – you spend more time training with _Naruto _than you do with me, damnit!"

"..."

"Also, threesomes are unhealthy and just _wrong _and I know you can be a bit of an ice-prick, and I'm okay with that, but why, _why _would you even want this? I mean, where did you get the idea from! No offense, Sasuke-kun, but you've never been quite – _out there _in that department if you know what I mean. Have you secretly been reading Kakashi's sensei's porn?" Sakura demanded.

"I would never touch that depraved Icha Icha series," Sasuke said, as disapprovingly as possible.

"Well frankly, other than Jiraiya - may his soul rest in peace and lust – no respectable shinobi would _ever _suggest something like this, especially to their teammate and two-year _girlfriend_!" Sakura finished, green eyes flashing, "Explain yourself, Sasuke-kun, because right now, you are _freaking me out!"_

"I thought," Sasuke said calmly, "That as you mentioned previously – our relationship is rather lacking in _certain aspects-"_

"Would it kill you to say the word sex?" Sakura rolled her eyes.

"I thought it would help to – introduce something new – something _exciting,_" Sasuke looked as if the words pained him, and Sakura was more than sure that either he'd read these words out of Icha Icha Violence, or had mugged them up previously.

She was, however, not impressed.

"New and exciting, as in – _another woman exciting?" _Sakura sneered, "What is it, do I bore you now? Am I too _annoying _for you, Sasuke-kun? Is the asexual Uchiha beginning to lust after one of his pathetic little fangirls?"

"Of course not," Sasuke snapped, "You know I can't stand any of them-"

"Oh! Then is it Ino? That pig, I'm going to _break _her bones-"

"You know she's too much of a clingy useless slut-"

"Hinata then? You've always had a thing for special _eyes-"_

"No. Weak and pathetic-"

"Ouch, that was harsh... Tenten, then? She's strong, independent, all those things you like-"

"I don't want to butt heads with the Hyuuga clan, thanks," Sasuke said coolly.

"Oh! It's Karin then! That bitch with the boots who used to follow you around, the one you _bit_-"

"Sakura," Sasuke said flatly, "No. It isn't any of them."

"So then who is it, huh?" Sakura shrieked, losing her patience entirely, and slamming her fist on the table.

It shattered to pieces.

"Who is this little whore whose suddenly got you interested in threesomes, Sasuke-kun? Because I don't believe you when you say it's just an 'experiment' or something, because you're Sasuke Uchiha and you don't _do _experiments!"

"Sakura-"

"I thought I was enough," Sakura's voice was trembling now, her eyes tearing up, "I did _everything _for you. I waited for _years, _I even forgave you when you came back, I defended you in front of Tsunade-sama – why is it never enough, Sasuke-kun, why?"

"Sakura, will you just-"

"After all of this," Sakura cried, "After Orochimaru, the Akatsuki, and everything. I even forgave you for trying to _kill _me all those years back!"

"Sakura, you're digressing," Sasuke said, "And I told you, I don't have feelings for any other woman, it's just to – to improve our _love _life, or lack thereof-"

"After I did all of that for you - why the _hell _should I share you with another woman?" Sakura wailed, "Shannaro! Hell no! I won't! Why should I?"

Sasuke paused, lacing his hands together, and resting his chin on them. Then-

"Who said it had to be a woman?"

"..."

Sakura's eyebrows rose so high that they risked disappearing into her bangs, despite her unusually large forehead.

"WHAT?"

#$%&

"I – _wow,_" Ino whistled lowly, shaking her head, "Damn, forehead, you're one lucky bitch."

"_What _do you mean?" Sakura snarled, "My boyfriend finds me boring and wants to bang someone else! Worse, he's probably _gay_!"

"Now, now, Sakura," Ino patted her head consolingly, as she potted a bunch of flowers.

They were at the Yamanaka Flower Shop. Sakura had stormed in about ten minutes ago after leaving the Uchiha Compound in a rage, and seeing that Ino's shop was empty, proceeded to pour out everything to her best friend.

"He's gay," Sakura breathed, "He _is _so gay. That's why he never bothered with any girl earlier. I should've known!"

"He's _not _gay," Ino smacked her on the arm, "Why would he date you, then? I mean, I know Sai calls you Ugly, and you're super strong, but that doesn't quite make you a man, you know."

Sakura glowered at her.

"What, then?"

"Well," Ino said thoughtfully, "He did say it was to spice up your sex life, right? Maybe he meant it."

"You can't be serious," Sakura snorted, "This is Sasuke-kun. We don't even _have _much of a love life to spice up."

"Yes, well maybe that's his point," Ino said wisely, "Maybe he wants to take things further, get really _serious _about them-"

"Why a threesome then?" Sakura threw her hands up, "Why not – oh, I don't know, _bondage _or – or – _weapons _or something! I bet he saw all sorts of kinky shit around Orochimaru in Sound!"

"Please, are you _trying _to emulate Neji and Tenten?" Ino rolled her eyes, "Weapons is so their thing..."

"I'm not going to even ask _how _and _why _you know that," Sakura sighed.

"Hinata," Ino shrugged, "Byakugan can see through walls you know. Poor girl, she was scarred for life... they really should move it all to Tenten's place."

"Still," Sakura insisted, "I'd even do – something with _snakes _if that's how he rolls – but why a _threesome_? And with a _guy_?"

"What, you'd prefer that redhead with the bite-fetishes and big ass then?" Ino asked, "I'm sure there are hoards of girls willing enough for precious _Sasuke-kun_..."

"No, _not _Karin," Sakura scowled, "But – ugh! I don't get him!"

"Listen, forehead," Ino said, leaning forward, her blue eyes wide, "If Sasuke wanted to bang someone else he could easily have an affair. You're always so busy at the hospital and any girl would keep quiet for one night with him. It wouldn't be all that hard."

"Gee, thanks," Sakura rolled her eyes, "That helps."

"But the point is," Ino continued, "He's not. He hasn't had an affair, and if he did, he wouldn't be suggesting a threesome. I think he has another reason for it – particularly because he wants it with another _guy_..."

"What, then?" Sakura muttered.

"Forehead," Ino said seriously, "Be honest with me now. Don't be ashamed."

"What?"

"Have you ever – has Sasuke ever – well – you know-"

"We _have _had sex," Sakura snapped, blushing, "What's your deal, pig?"

"Yes, but was it –" Ino paused, thinking for the word, "Fulfilling?"

"I – what do you mean?" Sakura asked, narrowing her green eyes.

"Did you," Ino gesticulated, "You know – _get _it?"

"Get what?" Sakura asked cluelessly.

"You know – the – the _pleasurable feeling_," Ino hinted, looking rather annoyed.

"Huh? Pig, you're losing me here-"

"Damnit, Sakura! Did you get an _orgasm_?"

"...oh," Sakura finally got it, her cheeks flaming, "I – I – actually – actually _no_!"

She was shocked, but when she considered it – Sasuke had always pulled out. They had only _done it _twice or thrice, and though she admitted that he was an _amazing _kisser, with a _divine _body and he was _very _gifted with his hands – he always seemed to be holding back. He was never quite that passionate, he avoided her eyes, his kisses made her toes curl but somehow always never felt _right_ – and now that Ino mentioned it, he had never actually – _fulfilled _her himself. The same could be said for him too.

Sakura had always just assumed this was a part of his cold, stoic Uchiha personality. She had gotten used to it, like she did his propensity for training almost 24/7 and his quiet demeanour and his inability to display affection in public.

Ino, however seemed to think differently.

"That's it, Sakura," Ino said, eyes gleaming, "I got his reason! It's _so _obvious, and rather – sweet – in a warped, weird Sasuke-way when you think of it!"

"What?" Sakura asked, utterly bemused and genuinely curious.

Ino sighed.

"As tragic as it seems, I suppose it makes sense. He's never had a manly guidance figure considering his lack of family and I don't think Itachi ever gave him the talk during their epic showdown-"

"Pig, _what _are you babbling about-"

"Knowing him, he wouldn't bother asking Kakashi for one his books and the only other male he seems comfortable with is _Naruto, _and well – Naruto is Naruto, so – yeah," Ino nodded, apparently convinced by whatever she had conluded.

"I still don't get it," Sakura said, "Spit it out."

"Sasuke Uchiha, genius that he is," Ino sighed dramatically, flipping her long ponytail, "Has never been given The Talk. _He doesn't know how to have sex_ _properly_."

"I – what?" Sakura was shocked, "Ino – we _have _done it before. That's ridiculous. And let me tell you, he _is _good."

"Sakura, please," Ino said, "No offense, but you're not that experienced yourself. You've never _orgasmed_. He probably hasn't even penetrated you yet. I bet he doesn't even know where to _put _his damn kodachi-"

"Kodachi?" Sakura was puzzled, "I thought you said no to weapon fetishes..."

"I meant _metaphorically, _Sakura!" Ino slapped her forehead, "Geez! But yeah, that's it. He doesn't know how to have sex. He doesn't know what to do, what to put where. He's too embarrassed to ask anyone."

"He could just – _read _about it!" Sakura exclaimed.

"From where?" Ino asked, "The medical books you read certainly don't have all that dirt in them, or you'd be far smarter about this topic. Tell me, Sakura – when he – did whatever he did – did it hurt you? Even a little?"

"No," Sakura said as if it were obvious.

"That solves it," Ino said, shaking her head, "Konoha's dream couple hasn't even had sex. Pathetic."

"How do you know?" Sakura demanded.

"Because, Forehead, unlike you, I _know _about these things. Sex hurts. Penetration hurts. _And _it gives you an orgasm after. That obviously means, whatever you and Sasuke have been attempting to do in your beds, _that _is not it!"

"I – oh," Sakura muttered, feeling extremely foolish.

For all her extensive skills on medical knowledge (including knowledge about human genitalia), Ino was right – she _didn't _know much about sex, not when it got down to the specific technicalities of the process. And apparently, for all his skills on ninjutsu and genjutsu, nor did Sasuke. Though technically, he had always seemed less into that topic than her.

It was somewhat surprising though; considering his ultimate goal (after killing his brother) had been to revive his clan – he _should _have some knowledge about said 'reviving' process.

"I still don't get how the threesome connects to this," Sakura said after awhile.

"Sasuke needs to know how to have sex, how to pleasure you. Do you remember that time he fought Rock Lee, during the Chuunin Exams, years ago?"

"Y-yes?" Sakura said, baffled by the path this conversation was taking.

"You remember telling me about how Lee defeated Sasuke using some cool taijutsu? And then in the match, Sasuke defeated that other guy using an improved form of that very jutsu which Lee had used on him? Which he copied with his Sharingan earlier?"

"Yes," Sakura nodded slowly, narrowing her eyes.

"So, Sasuke is going to watch another man have sex with you. He'll record it with his Sharingan, and copy his moves. Then he'll know exactly what to do to pleasure you, only _better, _and your boring sex life is suddenly the best thing invented since kunoichi fishnets!" Ino finished triumphantly, "Doesn't it all make sense!"

Sakura was silent for a while, digesting the information.

When Ino said it like that, it did make sense. And Sasuke probably _didn't _know what to do; he'd spent most of his life chasing after revenge or being a missing-nin. His only close male friend was _Naruto, _who was probably even more inexperienced in that department, given that he _still _hadn't made a move on poor Hinata.

"I don't get why he couldn't just – talk to me about it," Sakura murmured finally.

"Much help _you _would have been," Ino snorted, "You're so innocent it's scary. I bet even _Sai _and _Hinata _know more than you, Sakura."

"No, I mean, tell me the real reason," she said, "It's a bit weird, just asking for a threesome like that..."

"Well, it would probably hurt his inflated Uchiha pride," Ino sniffed, "He can't let you know that he doesn't know how to do you! That's mortifying!"

"Ino, you're theory is _insane_-" Sakura said.

"It makes perfect sense," Ino insisted.

"I still feel uncomfortable with the idea-" Sakura whined.

"Well you shouldn't!" Ino snapped, "I'm sure Sasuke will make the stranger use a Henge or something so it looks like him!"

"..."

"BILLBOARD BROW! You get to have hot sex with some hot stranger while your sexy boyfriend who is the most sought after man in Konoha, _watches _you, with _consent, _so that he can do you in a way that will cause you exponentially more pleasure next time! _What are you being so incredibly pissy about?"_

"Okay, okay," Sakura muttered, taking a breath, "I just – wow."

Sasuke Uchiha sure did know how to complicate matters.

Of course, he'd been a pro at _that _since he'd run away with the Sound Four at the age of twelve.

At twenty, Sakura shouldn't have expected things to have been much better.

Still, for the sake of their relationship, she would agree to it.

Oh, the things she did for that boy...

#$%&

"I'll do it," Sakura finally told Sasuke when she visited him for dinner in the compound.

He raised an elegant eyebrow, looking up momentarily from the scroll which he was reading.

"I mean I'll do the threesome thing," Sakura mumbled, "I'll do the other guy, or whatever sick fantasy it is you have..."

Sasuke's eyes seemed to flash red at the "I'll do that other guy" part, and Sakura felt somewhat gratified. Apparently, he did have his jealous side, then. She suddenly felt a rush of affection towards Sasuke... he really didn't know better, and if he was willing to go this far, he obviously trusted her and cared about her a lot.

"Hn," Sasuke said after a while, his eyes returning to his scroll.

"Sooo," Sakura began, fidgeting with her kunai holster, "When exactly is this little – um – meeting going to be?"

"Tomorrow," Sasuke said evenly, not looking up from his paper.

"To-tomorrow!" Sakura jumped, "That soon! Are you – are you sure!"

"Do you have a problem with that?" Sasuke asked monotonously.

"No," Sakura shook her head, plastering a fake smile on her face, "No, of course not! Tomorrow's good with me! It's not like I have a mission on hospital duty or anything!"

"Good," Sasuke nodded, and Sakura wondered how to strike up another conversation with him.

It was rather awkward, her just standing and watching him read – not that she minded the view, but still...

"So just – um – let me know if you need anything from me," Sakura said cheerfully.

"Actually, Sakura," Sasuke said, his voice low, "There _is _something I need you to do."

His dark eyes seemed to have a rather far-away look in them, one she'd never seen before.

"Yes, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked eagerly, leaning forward.

"It would be rather – _awkward _– if I suggested the idea," Sasuke murmured, "So once I bring the other _man _tomorrow, I'll need you to do that little bit for me?"

"Of course," Sakura agreed instantly.

She could understand that Sasuke _would _feel awkward, and it was the least she could do to make him comfortable considering he was doing all of this, in Ino's opinion, for _her _sexual gratification.

"I'll convince him, don't worry," Sakura said, leaning forward.

He let her kiss him, for barely a few seconds, before he pulled away.

She noticed he was smirking, ever so slightly – as if he'd succeeded in something extremely important.

She didn't quite get it at the time.

#$%&

The next evening, Sakura took an unusually long time in the shower. She washed her shoulder-length hair, and blow-dried it too. She powdered her face and arms, and even applied a hint of lip gloss and some perfume (sakura-blossom fragrance, like her name). She wore a new lacy maroon corset with matching underwear that Ino had gifted her that morning, with a wink, along with black fishnet tights.

She felt rather conscious, but as she surveyed herself in the mirror, decided that it was worth it. Sakura wasn't one for vanity; in fact she often harboured an inferiority complex about her looks. But this time, she decided that for once, she looked _stunning._

Definitely worthy of Sasuke Uchiha, and whatever man he decided to bring.

Sakura just hoped that the other man was – somewhat attractive.

She knew he wouldn't compare to Sasuke. The only people around their age who did were Neji, and to some extent Naruto (if you preferred blue eyes, blonde hair and rougher looks) and Sakura was sure that Sasuke was dragging some poor civilian into their scheme. There was no way any of the shinobi would agree to it, and considering their career and how often they all met each other, that would be just – wrong.

Sasuke would probably use a genjutsu on the man too, Sakura surmised, to make it seem like she was some other civilian girl; or to make him forget the entire experience even happened.

For Sakura herself, it took some time to adjust to the idea of allowing another _man _to do something with her. But like Ino said, she had nothing to lose (except her virginity, Kami-sama!) and if it meant making Sasuke more comfortable with sex in the future, it was probably worth it for the sake of their relationship.

Still, Sakura couldn't help but feel rather apprehensive, and she slipped on a white knee-length skirt and pinkish-red top over her lacy undergarments.

#$%&

When Sakura heard the door open, it was nearly ten-o-clock. Her heart pounded in her chest, and she had to force herself not to run out of Sasuke's bedroom. She could hear voices arguing in the living room, and as she made her way through the passage, they got louder.

"Meh, stupid bastard, I _told _you I'd kick your ass, dattebayo! And I diiid! I totally did!"

Sakura froze, not believing her ears.

"Usuratonkachi. I had an entire pint more than _you_ -"

"LIES! ONCE I'M HOKAGE I'LL-"

"If you want to be Hokage, _deadlast_, you shouldn't get so _wasted _in public-"

"IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT TEME! YOU CHALLENGED ME!"

Sakura's heart leapt wildly as she recognized the screeching voice almost instantaneously.

It couldn't be – Sasuke _couldn't _possibly have –

"SAKURA-CHAAAN!" Naruto sang loudly, spotting her skulking in the passage, "HEEEY! GUESS WHAT! BASTARD CHALLENGED ME TO A DRINKING CONTEST AND I TOTALLY WONNN!"

Messy blonde hair, the color of the sun – check.

Deep blue eyes, sparkling with excitement – check.

Tanned skin, roughly handsome face, muscular frame that was just a centimetre shorter than Sasuke's – check.

Annoyingly loud voice proclaiming nonsense about Hokage-dom – check.

Orange and black jacket – check.

This wasn't a henge or transformation, that was for sure.

Sakura squeezed her eyes shut, forming a seal.

"Kai!" she whispered.

Nothing happened.

This wasn't a genjutsu either.

"I won!" Naruto repeated, slinging an arm around Sakura's neck, "Isn't that great, Sakura-chan! I beat the bastard!"

She could smell the sake in his breath, and her heart thumped wildly.

It couldn't be – it _had _to be some kind of a misunderstanding.

She looked desperately across at Sasuke, who was watching them carefully.

He nodded at her, smirking slightly.

_OH. MY. GOD. _

Sakura knew what that meant.

The third person in their little threesome tonight – was none other than their teammate and long-time best friend.

Naruto.

#$%&

It was obvious, Sakura realised, that Sasuke had gotten Naruto drunk – or rather somewhat tipsy – undoubtedly by strategically challenging to a drinking competition, so that he could carry out his little plan.

Sakura, however, wasn't so sure.

This wasn't a random stranger. This was Naruto.

Naruto, who had a crush on her years back.

Naruto, who Hinata was in love with.

Naruto, who was their teammate, the third member of Team Seven excluding Kakashi.

Naruto, who had chased after Sasuke for weeks, months, years, to get him to return to Konoha.

Naruto, who was probably going to become the sixth Hokage once Tsunade retired.

She looked desperately at Sasuke, her resolve wavering, but he didn't seem to have the same hesitations that she did.

He just gave her another look, and nodded again.

Sakura bit her lip, her eyes flickering between both boys.

She always preferred Sasuke's looks – his fair skin, dark hair, dark eyes, perfectly chiselled features – but she couldn't deny that Naruto was hot as well.

She trusted him – she trusted both of them.

Maybe it was time to take Ino's advice.

She had two hot boys, and Sasuke didn't mind. She may as well enjoy herself.

Sasuke looked at her meaningfully again, and this time, Sakura nodded.

"Naruto, Sasuke-kun!" she said cheerfully, catching hold of both boys' hands, "Let's play a game!"

Sasuke looked at her strangely but allowed her to pull him towards his bedroom.

"Oh! A game!" Naruto seemed excited, blue eyes shining, "I love games, dattebayo!"

They settled themselves on the dark blue covers of Sasuke's bed. Naruto immediately sprawled out over the pillows, and Sakura and Sasuke sat cross-legged.

"What game are we playing, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.

Sakura smiled slyly, pulling out a kunai.

"Truth or dare, of course," she said.

Sasuke looked rather revolted for a moment that she would even suggest such a game. He seemed to sense that she had a plan however, so he said nothing.

"I LOVE THAT GAME!" Naruto yelled, "Kiba made us play it once, but that was years back! Hey, this is like a Team Seven Bonding session!"

"Bonding, indeed," Sakura muttered, flushing, as she contemplated the kind of bonding they may or may not be soon doing, if this game proceeded as per plan.

She placed the kunai handle on the flat part of the bed, and spun it.

It landed, the point facing Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura cooed, "Truth or dare?"

Sasuke gave her an annoyed look, a look that told her she better finish whatever she was planning fast, and get to it.

Sakura, however, had other plans. She knew Sasuke probably wanted her to just ask Naruto straight out, but she couldn't possibly do that. Her method made much more sense – he would see it to.

"Choose dare," she mouthed at Sasuke, who rolled his eyes.

"Dare," he said flatly, acquiescing.

"I dare you to kill yourself!" Naruto snickered, as if it were the funniest thing in the world.

"I'll kill _you_," Sasuke growled, and Sakura swear she saw something blue and electricity-like sparking from his fingertips.

_How _was this going to work again? Considering how violent Sasuke and Naruto got with one another – Sakura didn't exactly want to lose a limb in this threesome. Nor did she want a hole in her chest, or chakra burns, thanks.

"No fighting," she said, swiftly intervening, as she cracked her knuckles, "Or I'll chakra-punch you both."

"Oooh!" Naruto said, ignoring her and rubbing his hands together, cackling, "Sasuke, I dare you to use the Sexy Jutsu!"

"I don't even know how," Sasuke muttered.

"I'll show you and you can copy it with your freaky Sharingan!" Naruto said gleefully, surprisingly sensible despite his tipsiness.

"No," Sakura cut in, an idea sparking in her mind, "That's boring."

"But Sakura-chan!" Naruto pouted, "I want to see what a girl-Bastard would look like! And even you should know, in case you ever decide to have kids!"

"No," Sakura shook her head, "I spun the kunai, so I get to choose Sasuke-kun's dare. Sasuke-kun, I dare you to take off your shirt!"

Sasuke stared at her.

Naruto did too.

"What?" he asked incredulously, "Come on, Sakura-chan, I'm sure you can ogle at his chest later, dattebayo! That's a stupid dare! And Sasuke probably doesn't even _mind _being shirtless!"

"What gave you _that _impression?" Sasuke snarled, eyes flashing.

"Oh come _on, _Sasuke," Naruto said teasingly, leaning forward, "The crap Orochimaru used to make you wear barely covered _anything_..."

"I didn't realised you looked," Sasuke shot back, crossing his arms, and staring at Naruto, who blushed.

"What – I – no – I – of course I didn't!" Naruto sputtered, "You sick bastard!"

"Sasuke, just do it," Sakura said impatiently, not realising the not-so-subtle flirtatious teasing that was going on right in front of her eyes.

Sasuke just shrugged, and with one fluid motion, ripped off his black Uchiha-crested shirt, before settling back into his position.

Sakura was so busy drooling – over the toned alabaster skin, the cuts and ridges of his delicious abs and chest, the muscles of his arms and shoulders that flexed as he moved – that she didn't notice Naruto.

Naruto who had stared, mouth slightly open, at his best friend, before meeting Sasuke's questioning eyes and turning away, flushing.

She didn't notice the smirk on Sasuke's face either, as he spun the kunai, and it landed on Naruto.

"So, _Naruto,_" Sasuke murmured, "Which one is it?"

"Truth," Naruto muttered, and Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"Pathetic," he muttered.

He sure knew how to manipulate Naruto alright.

"What?" Naruto nearly pounced at him, but held himself back, "You think you're better than me? Fine! I choose dare! I don't mind taking my shirt off and stripping like you, you asshole!"

"That's not quite what I had in mind," Sasuke said softly, and a chill went down Sakura's spine.

She didn't know why, but there was _something _in his voice which she'd never quite heard before.

"Tell me anything," Naruto said, locking his blazing blue eyes with Sasuke's dark ones, "And I'll do it. I'm not scared, teme. Not of anything lame that _you _could come up with..."

"Anything?" Sasuke asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Believe it, anything," Naruto vowed, glaring back.

Sakura didn't realise how close they had gotten – they were practically breathing into one another's face. She didn't quite notice the palpable tension in the room either.

"Well," Sasuke shrugged, before nodding at Sakura, "I can't really think of anything that wouldn't involve me daring you to fight me somehow-"

"Come on then!" Naruto growled, "You and me, right here, right now. Bring it on!"

Sasuke's eyes seemed to darken at this, but he shook his head.

"I don't think Sakura would like that too much..." Sasuke said.

"No," Sakura agreed vehemently, "This is – bonding time! You two aren't going to break into a fight!"

She shot Sasuke a what-the-fuck look, but he just shrugged.

"Sakura, you can dare him for me," Sasuke said, before leaning back.

_Oh._

Sakura understood now – _she _was supposed to be the one doing the asking, not Sasuke.

Of course.

"Alright, Naruto," Sakura smiled deviously, "I dare you to have a th-"

She stopped abruptly when she noticed Sasuke shaking his head at her, looking rather annoyed.

She didn't get why, but then shrugged, improvising.

"I dare you to – uh – um – kiss me!" she said, before biting her lip.

Sasuke sat up straight, Sharingan spinning in his eyes.

Naruto looked adorably confused.

"Wha- what did you say Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, blue eyes wide.

Sakura wanted to hug him – but Sasuke seemed to be radiating killer intent, and she had _no _idea why. This was _his _idea! _He _wanted the threesome! So why was he acting so – _angry!_

_Maybe he's regretting it, _Sakura thought, _maybe he realised he doesn't feel comfortable sharing me._

"Uh – nothing," Sakura amended quickly, catching Sasuke's glare, "Um – Sasuke-kun can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Just give him a dare, Sakura," Sasuke said flatly.

Sakura didn't get why it sounded like some sort of a threat.

"Oh – I don't know!" she wailed, "Naruto I – um – I – I dare you to – kiss Sasuke-kun! Yes, you have to kiss Sasuke-kun!"

The effect that these words had on both boys was astounding.

Naruto went bright red, and started yelling something along the lines of 'IT WAS AN ACCIDENT, DAMNIT, I DON'T LIKE HIM DATTEBAYO!'

Sasuke actually blushed. It was barely visible, just a dusting of pink across his pale skin – but in all their time together Sakura had _never _been able to make him blush.

Apparently, however, this was the idea, since Sasuke wasn't objecting verbally.

Technically, nor was Naruto.

Sakura should have found it weird. She should have found the entire situation weird.

But she didn't.

"Naruto, your dare," she repeated, "Is to kiss him. Now."

"I – I – I can't kiss teme!" Naruto protested, blushing.

"You already _have_," Sakura said exasperatedly, "Just do it again, and let's get on with this!"

"Bastard, tell her!" Naruto wailed, looking at Sasuke for support.

Sasuke, however seemed to think differently.

"Don't expect me to bail you out just because you're a coward," he scoffed.

"Oh _yeah_?" Naruto challenged, glaring at him, "You really think that, Sasuke?"

"Tch," Sasuke just looked away, "Loser."

"I am not," Naruto growled, leaping forward and grabbing Sasuke's bare shoulders with his hand.

Sasuke smirked, flicking his bangs from his eyes, before leaning forward, until his nose brushed against Naruto's.

Naruto blushed harder at this, but didn't move, continuing to glare at Sasuke, who was now smirking, his dark eyes more alive than Sakura had ever seen them.

"Prove it," Sasuke murmured, his fingers running down the side of Naruto's neck.

There was silence for a moment, until suddenly, Naruto moved forward, grabbing the back of Sasuke's neck and crashing his lips to his own.

Sasuke didn't push him away, but kissed him back, his lips moving fervently under Naruto's. One of Naruto's hands dug into Sasuke's dark locks, and the other was raking across his back. Both of Sasuke's arms were suddenly looped around Naruto's waist, his palms pushing into the boy's back.

Sakura gasped, as she watched them, kissing furiously for a few seconds. She wasn't sure what she saw, but it looked like Naruto was attempting to get some tongue action – or maybe it was Sasuke.

Or was it both?

Sakura watched, entranced, feeling her heart flutter wildly, feeling a warmth pool towards her legs, until she realised with a jolt what was happening.

Sasuke and Naruto were kissing.

Violently. Passionately.

In fact, Sasuke probably hadn't kissed _her _that passionately before.

And _she _was getting turned on by it.

The duo broke apart after a few moments, just when Sakura was sure Sasuke was about to shove Naruto back into the pillows. They panted, catching their breath, staring at one another heatedly.

Their faces were flushed and their hair was mussed, and Sakura had never seen anything hotter.

"Um – guys," she ventured, biting her lip.

They didn't respond.

"Sasuke-kun, Naruto," Sakura said, a little louder, and they both whipped their heads towards her, looking almost surprised.

Like they had forgotten she was there.

"Oh – Sakura-chan," Naruto said breathlessly, and Sakura's heart leapt when she realised _why _exactly he sounded so breathless.

Because _Sasuke-kun _had been kissing him hard just seconds ago.

And this was no academy accident.

"Um – I think – I think it's time for my dare," Sakura said shyly.

And that was when the fun began.

#$%&

The first few minutes, Sakura realised, she was in heaven.

Who wouldn't be, when you had two extremely _hot _and _insanely _attractive boys ravaging you.

Naruto, she soon found out was as toned and muscular and lean as Sasuke. And soon he was shirtless as well (courtesy of Sasuke).

She watched them kiss ravenously for a few moments, wondering when they'd turn to her.

When they finally did, it was all worth it, and it was the best feeling ever.

Team Seven, for the first time it seemed, had lost all semblance of control.

Fortunately, this time, they weren't trying to kill each other.

Sasuke's lips and tongue were at her throat, and Naruto's on her shoulder.

She didn't notice that neither kissed _her _on the lips. She was too lost in the heat of the moment.

Naruto came behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist, and Sasuke was leaning over her, his hands brushing her bare arms. Soon, Naruto's hand slipped under her top, his fingers playing across the skin of her stomach. Sasuke's hands were at her breasts, cupping and thumbing her through the cloth. Soon, Naruto's hands ventured upwards as well, squeezing, and Sasuke bit down on her neck.

Sakura moaned.

Soon her top was off, and Sasuke's hands were slipping through her thighs, parting them slowly. They soon slipped under her underwear as well, his fingers brushing against her womanhood. Naruto's fingers followed soon after.

They began kissing after that – leaning over her so that they could kiss one another, their fingers sliding into her slick, wet womanhood.

It was the most amazing feeling ever, and Sakura thought she would die of pleasure, as her muscles contracted around their fingers.

Seconds later, both sets of fingers were gone, and Sakura missed the feeling.

Naruto had tackled Sasuke back onto the bed, and they seemed to be struggling for the top position, wrestling with one another, their lips locked tightly together.

This went on for quite a while, and both boys lost their pants in the process.

Sakura noted, with some amusement, that their boxers clashed horribly. Sasuke's were his usual dark blue Uchiha-fan patented ones. Naruto's were bright orange with little cups of ramen.

They kissed and kissed and kissed, Sasuke's hands skimming across Naruto's chest, and abs, Naruto hugging Sasuke tightly to him – Sasuke was currently on top, though seconds later, Naruto flipped him over and pinned him down, moving his lips to Sasuke's neck.

Sasuke moaned, and Sakura was utterly thrilled by the sound. She'd never heard him sound like that.

"Like that, you bastard," Naruto teased, though his voice was thick.

Sakura could see his blue eyes, focusing solely on Sasuke, clouded with lust.

He moved his lips further down, his hands coming to the waistband of Sasuke's boxers. Naruto dipped his fingers inside, and Sasuke smirked, his Sharingan suddenly activating.

There was a poof of smoke, and seconds later, Naruto was hugging a log.

"BASTARD!" he screeched, and there was thud as the log fell onto the floor.

Sasuke appeared on top of Naruto this time, and flipped _him _over.

"Careful _deadlast,_" he murmured huskily, his lips ghosting over Naruto cheek, "If you do that, I may just lose control..."

Sakura saw Naruto shiver, and then blush brightly at Sasuke's words.

Sakura didn't blame him – the sound of that sexy, low voice was enough to send heat pooling to her lower regions.

"Maybe – maybe I want you to," Naruto said challengingly, still wrestling for dominance.

His voice was hoarse, and Sakura stared, wide-eyed.

Sasuke's hand was now sliding up Naruto's toned thigh, disappearing under the orange boxers.

"This time, I won't spare you," Sasuke whispered, "You'll be _screwed_, Naruto."

Sakura didn't miss the innuendo in his words, or the breathless way in which he said Naruto's name.

She didn't miss the growing bulge in Naruto's boxers, or the sudden jerk of Sasuke's arm.

"Saaaasukee," Naruto groaned, "Nnnngh..."

Sasuke smirked, biting Naruto's lip.

"You like it, dobe?" he whispered, "Want me to do that again?"

"Yes," Naruto moaned, "Kami-sama, yes, _please_!"

Sasuke, however, decided to withdraw his hand, probably for the sole purpose of torturing Naruto.

"Ugh, bastard," Naruto cursed, "Not now, not for this!"

"Why the fuck should I listen to you?" Sasuke taunted, his lips moving down Naruto's chest, "Usuratonkachi?"

There was another scuffle at this, and soon Naruto had landed on the floor with a curse and a yelp.

Sakura saw her opportunity, and moved forward, practically shoving her chest in Sasuke's face.

He looked rather surprised for a moment, as she watched him, sprawled out on the pillows, eyes half-lidded, his dark hair mussed up, and his lips slightly swollen from kissing. His Sharingan was on, she realised, and she leaned forward to kiss him. He didn't resist.

Her lips barely brushed against his when Sakura felt a sudden push from the side. Seconds later, she had tumbled off the bed.

_What the hell? _

She sat up wearily, rubbing her head, only to notice that Naruto had apparently recovered, and was now straddling Sasuke, kissing him roughly, apparently trying to shove his tongue down Sasuke's throat. Sasuke's hands were in Naruto's hair and he was thrusting his hips upwards – _grinding _into Naruto.

_It must have been an accident, _she told herself, _Naruto was probably just too excited to get back to Sasuke-kun._

Though the image before her certainly pleased her, Sakura felt a tiny bit uncomfortable.

Sasuke and Naruto were so deeply involved in one another, it was like she didn't exist. And she'd almost felt like Naruto had intentionally boxed her out.

_I'm being foolish, _she told herself, _this is a threesome, someone is bound to be left alone at times. I just need to be patient and watch the show in the meanwhile..._

For the next half-hour, they ignored her entirely. They kissed and kissed and kissed – and somehow never seemed to tire of it.

Sakura was shocked. Sasuke never kissed her for over two or three minutes.

But the steamy kisses with Naruto seemed to have gone on for much longer, and neither was complaining. Their hands had made their way into each other's pants, and though Sakura wasn't one hundred percent sure what they were doing, she had a pretty fair idea.

"Ahhh," Naruto gasped, panting, "Saaasuke... teme... keep doing that..."

His voice was breathy and it made Sakura want him, want them both, _so _so badly.

Sasuke's mouth was at the shell of Naruto's ear now, sucking, licking, and doing other devastatingly turning on things.

Sakura got up and leaned forward again, kissing Naruto's cheek.

"Mm, Sasuke," Naruto moaned again, and Sakura ignored this, moving her lips towards his own.

She closed her eyes, but a second later, she found herself face-down on the bed, kissing the pillow.

Sasuke and Naruto had apparently rolled away to the side – Naruto was on top now, and there was an undeniably wicked glint in his blue eyes.

"I'm getting you back now, you vengeful bastard," he growled, and Sasuke stared back lustfully.

They went at it again, and seconds later, Sasuke was moaning in a way Sakura had never believed possible of the stoic Uchiha.

"Nnnh... Naruto..." Sasuke groaned, "Fuck..."

"Oh, I'd love to do exactly that, teme," Naruto said throatily, before moving downwards.

Sakura gasped, her eyes widening as she realised just what was happening, as Naruto grabbed the blankets and threw them over himself, before descending lower and lower.

She couldn't see Sasuke's legs under the blankets, or anything but a few spikes of spiky blonde hair now – but Sasuke's pale hands were clutching Naruto's hair and his eyes had gone wide.

He was flushing red like a tomato, worse than Sakura had ever seen him, and the Sharingan was spinning wildly.

"Fuck, yes," Sasuke groaned, his hips bucking upwards, "Don't stop, Naruto..."

_Oh, Kami-sama,_ Sakura's heart nearly jumped out of her chest when she realised what Naruto was doing.

_I didn't even know that was possible._

#$%&

Sakura didn't know how long it went for. She ogled at them shamelessly, and tried herself a couple times, before giving up.

Every time she made a move on Sasuke, Naruto would somehow accidentally take her place, bumping her off. Sasuke never minded, as he was too busy kissing, licking or biting Naruto himself to even notice her.

She found it strange – Sasuke was _her _boyfriend after all.

And every time she tried anything on Naruto, Sasuke would inevitably distract the boy with a hand down his pants or by groping his backside or some sort of trick; though Naruto was usually to distracted by Sasuke to even care if she tried anything – or notice even.

After landing on the floor for the third time, Sakura felt that she was being boxed out a bit _too _often for this to be a coincidence. Her corset and underwear wasn't even off yet! Neither boy had made a move to remove it, too busy with each other's boxers, and Sakura sure as hell wasn't stripping for them herself.

Though she considered it for a few minutes (maybe it would _finally _get their attention) she didn't have the courage.

And besides, none of this was matching up with Ino's theory.

Naruto hadn't made a move to even kiss her, much less have sex with her. Sasuke, who she'd always thought was unsure and unknowing and shy about sex – certainly wasn't unsure with Naruto. He also seemed to know how to do _quite _a lot of things with Naruto – and neither of them were shy in the least.

In fact, though Sakura didn't see exactly what surmised (they were under the blankets, and she could only see their chest upwards) she was pretty sure Sasuke did have sex – with Naruto.

If that was even possible.

All of it made Ino's plan sound horrible, terribly wrong.

And after they were done, she contemplated crawling into bed – on Sasuke's side, thinking that now that they'd satisfied one another, they'd finally turn to her – but they didn't.

In fact, Sakura saw something so shocking and yet heart-warming she thought that her heart would both break and swell up from watching it.

Sasuke was propped up on his elbow, his face just inches above Naruto's. Both of their faces were visible in the moonlight, and she could see their expressions clearly.

Sasuke's Sharingan was off, and his eyes were dark again. Naruto's were a bright silvery-blue in the moonlight.

Sasuke was looking at Naruto with an expression of utmost tenderness. His face seemed softer than usual, and for once, he wasn't smirking. In fact, he had a slight smile. It was barely there, but Sakura saw it, and he was gazing at Naruto with a look in his eyes which Sakura had never seen before.

It looked almost out of place on Sasuke – the cool, cold Sasuke who barely even _looked _at _her _when they kissed or got intimate – and yet it made him look so handsome. His spiky bangs were touching Naruto's forehead, and his fingers were trailing across Naruto's cheek, before they went up, brushing the blonde hair away from Naruto's eyes.

Naruto also, was unusually quiet and calm-looking. His blue eyes had an almost adoring look in them, as he stared up at Sasuke, smiling. His smile was a bit wider than Sasuke's, but just as genuine.

Sakura was intrigued by this sudden calm – after all that violent passion from before – and felt like an intruder, an outsider, spying on an intimate moment.

Sasuke tilted his head downwards, and Naruto tilted his upwards.

This time, when their lips met, it was with such gentleness, such _indescribable _tenderness that Sakura thought her heart would burst. Their lips moved slowly, languidly, and Sakura could tell that the kiss was full of heartfelt _emotion, _not just raw passion.

She realised it then, and bit her lips, trying to ignore the stinging in her eyes.

_I should have known, _she thought, shaking her head, _he always spends every free second with Naruto. They're always together, fighting, arguing, sparring... I should have seen the way they look at each other..._

Sasuke and Naruto continued to kiss, though it was slowly growing more heated. Sakura wouldn't be surprised if they started a second round; both of them had always had enormous amounts of stamina (and chakra reserves) and both had been rather persistent.

She sighed softly, before gathering her things.

She could tell where she was not wanted – she looked at them one last time, their silhouettes moving rhythmically in the moonlight, hands wondering, hips thrusting – and a tear rolled down her cheek.

Somehow, despite everything, despite the fact that her lover was cheating on her with her teammate and best friend, _his _teammate and best friend – she couldn't bring herself to be angry with them.

They'd always shared an abnormally close bond from the start.

They'd been alone together. They had suffered together.

They'd always competed.

Naruto had always run after Sasuke. Sasuke had only ever fought properly with Naruto.

In the end, Naruto had gotten through to Sasuke and convinced him to come home.

And technically, they _had _been one another's first kiss.

_Sasuke-kun..._

_You were playing me the entire time..._

_This is why I was never enough, ne?_

She'd crash at Ino's for the night. No point staying here and watching the boys she loved (one romantically and the other like a brother) make love to each other.

#$%&

Ino was sympathetic, and though Sakura suspected she liked the story (she was blushing the entire time) she allowed Sakura to cry herself hoarse, patting her on the head and comforting her.

"You're going to have to face them, you know," Ino told her, "You guys are a team..."

"We're not," Sakura hiccupped, "We never have been. It's always been - Naruto and Sasuke fighting, while I protect the client. Naruto and Sasuke going to get firewood while I cook the food. Naruto and Sasuke keeping watch together, while I sleep. And now - Naruto and Sasuke kissing and having sex while I watch."

Her voice rose slightly, and cracked towards the end, and Sakura felt more tears leaking out of her eyes.

"Don't worry," Ino said soothingly, "It's alright. They'll apologize, they _have _to. I'll _make _them, the idiots!"

"They've always – been like – this," Sakura coughed, "Always! They never – bothered with me! They only – saw each other!"

"It's okay, they're retarded and gay," Ino shrugged, "At least its _hot_!"

"It's embarrassing!" Sakura wailed, "How will I face them?"

"You will," Ino told her firmly, "Don't worry. And it's not like they completely disregarded you. Naruto crushed on you for years. Sasuke liked you as well. They just – like each other more."

"They're such idiots!" Sakura sobbed, "Such – ugh! Why do I – even bother with them!"

"They're your teammates, so you have to honey," Ino said, "They can't help it if they're gay and in love."

"I know," Sakura cried, "I just wish-"

"It's okay, Sakura, you're a smart, strong and despite your abnormally large forehead, beautiful kunoichi. You'll find someone..." Ino said, "Besides they're both violent and crazy. They're made for each other, frankly. I don't think you'd be able to take Sasuke's mood swings and attitude for too long."

"Of course I could," Sakura snapped, "I accepted him. I _loved _him."

"Well Naruto has always loved him more," Ino pointed out, "Remember, you even agreed to killing him all those years back. Naruto never gave up on him."

"I – you – you're right," Sakura sniffled despondently, "But I still feel so depressed..."

"Don't be," Ino told her, "Next time Team Seven has a mission, you'll get super hot, steamy boy-on-boy action to watch! I'd be milking it if I were you. Plus, you can guilt-trip them into being your bitches. It's okay if they love each other and all, but they do care about you as a friend..."

"I don't know," Sakura sighed, "It's just always – from the beginning – been Sasuke-kun. And Naruto – I know this is a horrible thing to say – but even though I didn't like him, I almost took it for granted that he'd be there – if – you know, if Sasuke-kun and I didn't work out..."

"Well you did work out, it's just Naruto and Sasuke worked out better," Ino said sternly, "Now stop moping! We'll find you someone else! He may not be as hot as Sasuke, because I admit, those are unreachable standards... hey, his brother is-"

"Dead, Ino," Sakura said immediately, "Don't even go there."

"Right," Ino nodded, "What about Kakashi-sensei? That way you're keeping it in Team Seven, and I've heard rumors that he is _really _sexy under that mask-"

"Ino, he's my _sensei!" _Sakura shrieked, throwing a pillow at her, "That's just _wrong_ on so many levels!"

"Fine then," Ino shrugged, counting the rest of the shinobi on her fingers, "Chouji only likes food, Shino is creepy and bug-obsessed, Neji's with Tenten, Kiba's got his sights set on Hinata, Shika's with Temari, Sai's with me, even Gaara's dating that Matsuri girl, and – well, there's always Lee?"

"No," Sakura buried her face in her arms, "I don't – like him that way. It wouldn't be right."

"Unfortunate," Ino said sadly, "He's got a _really _hot body you know, from all that training and taijutsu. Saw him once at the hotsprings. And if he just got a decent haircut and tweezed his eyebrows – and stayed away from Gai-sensei enough to get rid of the suit – I'm sure he'd be decent. And he loves you, right?"

"Oh, please," Sakura rolled her eyes, "He's too – youthful for me."

"Ah, but he'd 'protect you with his life', wouldn't he?" Ino teased, "I bet we can convince Tenten to help us un-clone him from Gai-"

"Pig, _please_," Sakura shook her head, "The last thing I let you talk me into was this threesome, and it was a disaster. I don't think I'm taking your advice again."

"Hey _that _was your fault," Ino accused, pointing at Sakura, "I didn't know you'd be _that _stupid!"

"My fault!" Sakura asked indignantly, "What did I do?"

"The moment you saw it was _Naruto, _you should have run," Ino said, shaking her head, "Seriously, Sakura..."

"What?" Sakura asked defensively, "Sasuke-kun bought him!"

"But don't you know? It's like the golden rule of threesomes!" Ino asked, looking scandalized.

"Please, _enlighten _me," Sakura said sarcastically, "Never too late, is it?"

"Sakura, you idiot," Ino said, shaking her head, "The third person is always supposed to be a stranger!"

#$%&

_Author's Note – I've been wanting to write a NaruSasuSaku that was more NaruSasu/SasuNaru for awhile. _

_Please review and let me know what you think! It's my first time writing – this kind of thing. _


	5. His Sasuke

_A/N – Drabble-ish thing inspired by the most recent Shippuden episode; the second one of the new Kage Summit Arc (yay, finally here! Fillers are over!)_

_The dialogue isn't exactly word-to-word, but it's more or less what comes in the episode._

_Italics are Naruto's thoughts. Some of the stuff is also like his 'dream sequence'_

_God, he's pining after Sasuke so much, it's heart-breaking X3 I personally thought that episode had so much implicit SasuNaru-ness…_

_Rated M-ish for naughty thoughts =P_

_Disclaimer – I don't own Naruto. Wish I owned Itachi though. He's so sexy. _

xOxOx

xOxOx

xOxOx

"I can't do it," Naruto choked, "I can't betray him…"

_Even if he betrayed me._

"What?" Karui growled, golden eyes narrowing, "How can you say that! You have to tell me everything you know about him!"

_Everything I know about him? I don't even know him half as well as I wish I did._

"I know it's selfish," Naruto said, his voice dropping to a whisper, "But I – I can't sell him out…"

His throat clogged up and he felt a strange leaping feeling in his stomach, like toad summons.

It was selfish, he knew. But Sasuke –

When it came to Sasuke, things were different.

_Even though he would sell me out without thinking._

"Your Sasuke is the one who started all of this!" Karui screeched, "What the hell am I supposed to do with all this, with all of my anger?"

_My Sasuke?_

Naruto's breath caught in his throat, as the words rang in his ears.

_My Sasuke. _

_He's mine._

His brain went into a daze, and he let Karui punch him, hard, on the face, her fists trembling with anger and packed with chakra.

It hurt – the Kyuubi growled from within his mind with protest, grumbling about the chakra it would waste to heal everything.

Even if it didn't heal, Naruto would take the punches for Sasuke.

For _his _Sasuke.

_He may have betrayed the village, and everyone may want to kill him, but I won't let them because he's my friend._

BAM! BAM!

Karui's incessant pounding cracked his cheekbone, his jaw.

_Mine._

_Sasuke is mine._

BAM!

_Not Orochimaru's._

BAM!

_Not Itachi's._

BAM!

_Not Madara's._

BAM!

_Mine._

"You idiot!" Karui shrieked, "Why won't you say something?"

Naruto filtered her voice out, almost detaching himself from his body as Karui thrashed him again and again.

He didn't mind the pain, not if it was for Sasuke. He was probably a masochist that way.

BAM!

_Sasuke…_

BAM!

Naruto's mind wandered, to what it would be like, if Sasuke came back to the village. They'd be friends, they'd train together, go to Ichiraku's for ramen together…

BAM!

_Maybe he can stay over at my place…_

BAM!

He thought about Sasuke, as Karui punched him, thought about the last time they'd met at Orochimaru's hideout.

He thought about how hard Sasuke's chest felt pressed against his own, the feeling of Sasuke's breath ghosting over his cheek, as malevolent words were whispered into his ear.

BAM!

Sasuke's eyes had been dark, beautiful dark pools, until they bled over with the Sharingan. He'd gotten taller, his shoulder's broader…

BAM!

He'd still had the same face, with those perfect sharp features, smooth pale skin, an arrogant coldness radiating from his figure…

BAM!

He was handsome, extremely handsome. Naruto knew that. And it felt _sososo _good to be pressed against him like that. Naruto hadn't been able to speak, or move. He had been paralysed, as shock – and maybe something more – washed over his body as Sasuke held him close, katana poised to kill.

BAM!

Maybe he wouldn't have minded Sasuke killing him… it wouldn't be so bad to have his blood spilt on Sasuke's hands…

BAM!

Though there were more intimate things he'd want with Sasuke's hands, though Naruto didn't dare entertain that train of thought.

BAM! BAM!

It came to him at night sometimes, sending shivers down his body and sending pools of heat coursing downwards, but he would blush in the dark and divert his mind to ramen, to training, to Sakura, to _anything_ just to get it away.

BAM! BAM!

But right now… right now, Naruto was aching all over, he could barely see with the swelling around his eyes – and he stared straight ahead, blissfully unaware of the pain as he allowed himself to give in to the thoughts that were constantly tugging at his mind.

BAM! BAM!

_My Sasuke…_

BAM! BAM!

He imagined Sasuke punching him, beautiful eyes narrow and glaring, his face drawn into a sneer. The sneer faded away to a smirk, and then Sasuke was leaning down…

BAM! BAM!

His breath was on Naruto's lips, and his hands were trailing down Naruto's neck, over his collar-bone, pulling at the zipper.

BAM! BAM!

Lips pressed against his, before trailing soft kisses over uncovered skin, as hands wandered, fingers trailing…

BAM! BAM!

Sasuke's eyes were half-lidded, his gaze less hateful and more lustful.

BAM! BAM!

Teeth sank into skin, but it was an amazing, _amazing _feeling.

BAM! BAM!

Hands pressed firmly into his back, trailing down, _down…_

BAM! BAM!

His pants slid off, and the pale hands were on his throbbing member now, the dark eyes gazing into his own.

BAM! BAM!

The hands moved – up – down – up – down – but he'd pull away just a second too soon, a smirk pulling at his lips.

BAM! BAM!

"Naruto," his voice was hoarse, laced with an angry edge, but it didn't matter….

BAM! BAM!

Lips, and a tongue – a _glorious _wet tongue, trailing down his stomach, over the swirling seal, and down until-

BAM! BAM!

_Sasuke! Sasuke! Sasuke!_

BAM! BAM!

_Hn… dobe…_

BAM!

_Don't stop, you bastard!_

BAM!

_…usuratonkachi… you're always in such a hurry…_

BAM!

_Oh, fuck, Sasuke!_

BAM!

_I – I think I – _

BAM!

Karui heaved, breathing heavily, as she stared at the boy below her. Naruto seemed like he was in some sort of dream.

She'd been beating him for ten minutes now, but he still lay there limply, unflinching, not even bothering to stop or dodge her blows.

BAM!

_Harder, Sasuke, harder!_

BAM!

_Faster, you asshole!_

BAM!

_Moron, this is fucking fast!_

BAM!

Karui sighed – she didn't know what this Naruto boy had for that delinquent Sasuke, but it must have been pretty special for him to take so many hits on his behalf.

BAM! BAM!

_You're my closest friend…_

BAM! BAM!

_Naruto, why would you go so far for me?_

BAM! BAM!

_You wanted to be Hokage right? Why waste your time chasing after me…_

BAM! BAM!

_Because you acknowledged me!_

BAM!

_Because you're my friend!_

BAM!

_I won't let you break this bond Sasuke, because I-_

BAM!

_You're mine._

BAM!

"Aaaargh!" Karui screamed in frustration, "Damnit, what the hell is your problem! This Sasuke of yours is going to start a war and-"

She stopped abruptly, staring at the unbelievable sight below her.

Naruto, his face battered and bludgeoned, blood streaming down his nose and mouth, was _smiling._

She sighed; she'd never quite get it.

Nobody would.

xOxOx

xOxOx

xOxOx

_A/N – abrupt ending, I know. It's just this random thing I had to get out of my system. _

_Karui really did refer to him as 'your Sasuke' just this once. It made me squeal! =D_

_Please review =) Pretty please? And thanks a ton to all those who reviewed the previous chapters! Love you guys! _


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